Nothing's Gonna Stop Them Now
by mars2192
Summary: Hmm, I can't think of a good summary. A jk romance fic but based around the kids. It'll make more sense if you read! By some miracle, I've actually updated.Final chapter is up.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi! My new fic. Wow, that will be four of them by me. Anyway, this is going to eventually be a Jack/Karen fic, but having Olivia, Mason and Elliot at the centre. Anybody who doesn't like the pairing, consider yourselves warned. I know it will never happen (or it might, I haven't seen all of S8. But please don't tell me either way). It is a fan**_FICTION _**site after all. No flamers please. I don't have a title yet, but hopefully something will pop into my mind.**

**Disclaimer: No characters or songs that I may or may not use are mine unless otherwise stated.**

It was a beautiful sunny day in New York City. In Central Park, there was a group of five people sitting on a picnic rug. There was one adult and three children.

'Grace would you pass me a can of soda?' Elliot McFarland asked Grace Adler. Grace Adler wasn't technically a relative, but she was as good as one. She was one of his dad Jack's best friends.

'Yeah, sure. Anybody else want anything?' Grace asked.

'Yeah, could you pas me a soda as well please?' Olivia Walker asked.

'Me as well please.' Mason Walker, Olivia's brother, also asked.

'Coming right up.' Grace said. Grace always felt like an aunt to the three kids.

'Here are your ice creams.' Will Truman, another relative-like figure, returned to where the others were sitting, struggling to carry five ice cream cones.

'Thanks Will!' Each of the four people said when they were handed their ice creams.

'Olivia?' A young girl had approached the group.

'Michelle, hi! How are you? I haven't seen you in ages.' Before Olivia got into a conversation with her friend, she introduced her to the gang. 'This is Michelle. Michelle, this is Grace, Will, Elliot and Mason.' Olivia said, pointing to each one in turn. 'And the lunatics over there are Jack and Karen.' Jack was walking toward the group with Karen, Olivia and Mason's stepmum, on his back.

'Listen I can't stay but I have your DVD that I borrowed ages ago and never gave back to you before I moved in my bag. I'm sitting over there if you wanna come and get it.' Michelle pointed to where she was sitting with her family.

'Yeah, I'll be back in a few minutes.' Olivia said while following Michelle.

'Where have you guys been?' Grace asked once Jack and Karen had arrived.

'Well, Karen fell over and couldn't walk so I had to carry her for a mile and a half.' Jack gave the reason for their lateness.

A few metres away, Olivia was still talking to Michelle.

'By the way, I don't mean to sound, well rude, but are they two together?' Michelle asked, referring to Jack and Karen.

Olivia burst out laughing. 'Oh god, no! I'm sorry. It's weird that anybody could think that.' It wasn't really that weird but Olivia was so used to their closeness that she hardly noticed it. 'They're just weird like that. Besides, Jack's gay. Anyway, I need to go, but get in touch soon again! Bye!' Olivia made the short walk to where the rest of the gang were sitting. 'Elliot, Michelle just asked whether Jack and Karen were together.' Olivia whispered to Elliot who was sitting next to her.

'What? Is she crazy? Can you imagine that?' Elliot was laughing.

'I know. The things some people think!'

**A/N: Enjoy! I am going to finish Secrets and Lies, but I though of this idea and decided to start it or else I'd forget my idea. Let me know what you think! And I know it's short, but I'm using it as a sort of introduction, if you know whatI mean.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here's my next chap! Hope you enjoy!**

It was a typical Wednesday afternoon at Olivia, Mason and Elliot's school. Mason was kicking a ball around with a few other friends while Olivia was sitting with a few of her other friends. Elliot had been slightly late getting out of his class and was just walking over to where Olivia and the others were sitting.

'And it's weird because Jack and Karen are like the extreme versions of Will and Grace.' Elliot had joined the group in the middle of a conversation. 'Hey Elliot. Did you manage to get something for your lunch?' Olivia asked her best friend.

'I got left with this stupid egg salad. Hey are you going to Jack's birthday party on Friday night?' Elliot asked Olivia.

'Um yeah. But I might make an early exit to Will and Grace's apartment to sleep. I have ballet class in the morning.' Olivia explained.

'Wait, you're still coming to musical theatre training, right?' Elliot asked, worried that Olivia was going to leave him and Mason with a very annoying girl who only Olivia seemed to be able to get rid of.

'Yeah, ballet class is nine until eleven and musical theatre training isn't until twelve. So I guess you'll be staying at Jack's party then?' Olivia wondered if she would be the only one having an early night.

'Nah. Mason and I are going out with the guys before we go to musical theatre so I guess we'll be retreating to Will and Grace's to. 'And it's probably for the best. Sure as hell, everybody will be hammered and Jack will have invited the new love of his life who we'll know for two weeks before one or the other is more interested in somebody else.' Elliot gave his prediction of the evening.

'Hey, hey, hey, that's not a nice thing to say about your father!' Olivia joked.

'But it's true!' Elliot exclaimed.

'I know, but still!' Olivia laughed.

---

Friday night rolled around, and, just as Elliot had predicted, everybody (minus the kids) was a little bit on the drunken side.

'Are they doing yet another round of shots?' Olivia whispered to Elliot who was sitting right next to her.

'It would appear that way. And he hasn't even opened his presents yet.' Elliot said, halfway between joking and being hacked off.

'How long have we been at this party?' Mason asked in a similar tone to Elliot's.

'About four hours.' Olivia sarcastically answered.

'And his new fling hasn't shown up. Well, that would explain the excessive drinking.' Mason observed as the adults threw back yet another shot.

'You know what, I can't be bothered with this party and I'm starting to get drunk on the smell of alcohol.' Olivia said while standing up. 'Guys we're retreating to across the hall.' Will and Grace lived in the same building as Jack. 'See ya all tomorrow night once all of your hangovers clear.'

'Thank god.' Elliot said once Olivia had opened the door to the apartment opposite. 'Wait a minute, I didn't know you had a key.'

'I don't. The door was already open, dumbass.' Olivia joked. 'We have a problem. There are three of us and only two sofas.'

'I'll get a sleeping bag and crash on the floor.' Mason offered.

'Are you sure?' Elliot asked.

'Yeah, and besides I fall off the sofas anyway. Liv, did you lift your ballet bag before we left the vodka factory?' The thought had suddenly occurred to Mason.

'Oh no, I didn't. I'll be right back.' Olivia said while exiting the apartment.

---

A few minutes later, Olivia returned to Will and Grace's with her ballet bag.

'Let me guess, still getting drunk?' Mason asked, trying to get his sleeping bag untangled.

'Oh yeah!' Olivia laughed.

---

Olivia woke up at about seven o'clock to get ready to go to ballet. Being careful not to wake up Mason and Elliot, she crept over to get her bag before heading to the bathroom to get a shower, but to her surprise the bathroom door was locked.

'Why is it always when you're running late?' Olivia asked herself out loud. 'I guess somebody's got a hangover.' Olivia said, referring to the vomiting noises coming from the other side of the door. 'Rough night?' Olivia asked when Grace emerged from the bathroom. Grace nodded very slightly. 'What time did you stop drinking?'

'I have…no idea.' Grace answered in a rough tone. 'But we abandoned Jack and Karen at some point so god only knows what kind of state they'll be in.'

'Look, I'm going to use your shower. I'll need to be quick or I'm going to be late for ballet.' Olivia said.

'Well, do you want me to give you a lift?' Grace innocently asked.

'Um, no thanks. I want to live.'

---

'Hey Olivia, how was the party last night?' One of Olivia's friends asked. Olivia had been a few minutes late due to the fact that she had to get the subway, which had also been late, so she had not had a chance to speak to anybody before class.

'It was the worst. Will, Grace, Jack and Karen were doing shots all night. They'll all be paying for it now. I know Grace has one hell of a hangover and has to meet with a client today. Don't know about anybody else.' Olivia gave her account of the night. 'Damn, I've left my phone somewhere. I'll have to run and get it before musical theatre in an hour. See you all later!' With that, Olivia ran out the door to catch the subway.

---

Olivia had run between the subway station and 155 Riverside Drive, where Will, Grace and Jack lived. Once on the ninth floor, she entered Will and Grace's apartment, certain had left her phone there. She found a note lying on the coffee table.

'Grace, had an urgent meeting. Be in as soon as I run out of aspirin. Love, Will.' Olivia read aloud. 'Bet you're regretting consuming all that alcohol last night. Damn, my phone ain't not here! Must be in Jack's.'

Olivia made the short walk across the hall to Jack's apartment and opened the door.

'Oh my god!'

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter! Enjoy!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Here's the next chap! Hope you enjoy!**

'Oh my god!' Olivia yelled at the top of her lungs and averting her eyes. 'What the hell happened? Wait, don't answer that. I can figure that out by myself!' Olivia backtracked what she had just said when she realised the amount of comments that could be made from it. 'Have you not heard me? Am I not shouting loud enough? Are you too hung over too hear me?' Olivia was still yelling. 'And you still don't answer me! Okay, I have to go to musical theatre. Let me know when you're sober. And better dressed.' Olivia now stopped yelling. 'Oh my god.'

---

'Olivia, where the hell have you been?' Mason asked his sister when she eventually arrived.

'Whoa, what the hell's wrong with you?' Elliot asked, noticing both Olivia's expression and that the colour had drained from her face.

'Um, I had to go back to Jack's apartment to get my…damn!' Olivia realised that she'd left her phone in Jack's apartment.

'Whoa, Olivia, why so white? Did you walk in on somebody at it?' A rather immature boy asked Olivia.

'Why do you think everything has to do with sex? Get lost!' Olivia turned round to face the boy. 'My god.' Olivia turned back round to face Mason and Elliot.

'So, did you?' Elliot wanted to put his mind to rest. If it was that, it could only be horrifying.

'Um, kinda.' Olivia answered.

'Oh my god. Who?' Mason asked.

'Oh dear. This is going to be… mentally scarring. But not as mentally scarring as what I just walked in on.'

'Get to the point already!' Elliot joked.

'Okay…um, let's see… how can I put this delicately? Okay, got one part. Anastasia Beaverhousen.'

'Oh my god!' Mason was shocked at what Olivia had just told them.

'It gets worse.' Olivia warned Mason and Elliot.

'Who else?' Elliot tried to move the whole thing along.

'Um, got it!' Olivia proceeded to do the 'Just Jack' hand movement.

'Bloody hell!' Elliot shouted, for some reason, in a British accent. Mason's jaw dropped to the floor.

'Elliot, that's what I was talking about. Do your British accent like that. That was brilliant!' The acting teacher approached Elliot.

'Oh my god! Jack and Karen?' Elliot took no notice of what the acting teacher had just said.

'Are you sure because you know what Jack and Karen are like?' Mason wanted to double check.

'Well, lets see. Judging by their, um, positions on Jack's sofa, their lack of clothing and the amount of alcohol that was thrown down their throats last night, I'm gonna say: YES I'M SURE! What the hell kind of question is that?' Olivia yelled; something that she'd been doing a lot today.

'But…Jack's gay! Always has been? How the hell did he and Karen end up…you know?' Mason asked.

'Well, my guess is that when you are as drunk as they obviously were last night, any sort of sexual preference goes right down the drain.' Elliot offered his suggestion. 'Do they know you know?'

'Honey, I don't think that _they_ know what I know!'

'Do Will and Grace know anything? Hang on one second. Olivia, Grace wants to speak to you.' Mason said, handing Olivia his phone, which had just rung. However the phone call didn't last very long.

'Yeah, Grace knows! Which means so will Will very soon.' Olivia answered the earlier question.

'How did she find out?' Elliot said, laughing.

'The same way I did. Wow, Jack and Karen are gonna have alotta fun explaining this one!'

**A/N: Okay, I know it's a bit short. Sorry! Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I love reviews. Lol! Enjoy!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Enjoy!**

Grace had returned from her meeting with a client, still suffering from the effects of too much alcohol.

'Hey sweetie, how you feeling?'Grace asked Will when he returned from his own meeting.

'Well, I'm paying for the amount of shots I had. That's for sure.' Will answered while trying to find some paracetamol.

'Well you wont be paying as much as Jack and Karen sure are or will be.' Grace informed Will. 'They're going to be paying in more ways than one.' Grace half laughed.

'What do you mean?' Will said. Before Grace had a chance to answer, she was interrupted by Mason, Olivia and Elliot walking through the door.

'Hey Liv, I tried to phone you this morning but you didn't answer the phone.' Grace said.

'I left it in Jack's last night and there's no way I'm going back in there now.' Olivia joked. 'Not after what was in there earlier.'

'How horrifying was it really?' Elliot asked. Will was confused as to the conversation he seemed to be excluded from.

'Very!' Grace and Olivia answered simultaneously.

'We're both mentally scarred for life. Be thankful you didn't see what we did.' Olivia added.

'What exactly did you two see?' Will tried to get up to speed.

'Hey kiddies. Wow, I definitely had too much to drink last night.' Jack waltzed through the door to Will's apartment.

'You think?' Grace said sardonically.

'Um, how was your night?' Olivia apprehensively asked.

'Um, I don't remember much. I don't even know when I woke up this morning. Hey, do you where Karen went last night?' Olivia shook her head at Jack's question.

'Um, I thought she stayed with you' Elliot answered, trying to act as if he didn't know anything. 'So what did you and Karen… get up to last night after we were all in the land of nod?'

'I don't know. My guess is doing more shots. Apart from that, I don't know.' Jack naively answered.

'How can you not remember what you did last night?' Mason answered, trying to hide his laughter.

' Alcohol.' was Jack's answer as he left the apartment.

'Okay, that is plain scary!' Olivia said while pointing to the door that Jack had just left through.

'I know! How can he have no idea?' Grace said, shocked. A few seconds later, Jack re-entered Will's apartment, screamed, and headed back to his apartment.

'Okay, that was weird.' Will stated.

'Wait for it.' Olivia warned. A few seconds later, a scream from Karen was heard from across the hall. 'There it is!'

'Do you think that they've figured it out?' Grace asked. Karen walked in to the apartment and went straight to the bathroom.

'I'm gonna say so.' Mason answered.

'Figured what out?' Will was still trying to find out what it was he didn't know. Just then Jack entered the apartment, again. Karen emerged from the bathroom, took one look at Jack and both screamed simultaneously.

'Guys, easy on the hangovers!' Grace requested.

'WOULD SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!' Will yelled.

'WHAT DID I JUST SAY ABOUT HANGOVERS?' Grace yelled just as loud.

'Wow, this is chaos!' Mason giggled

'Wha..no...whe...but...why..how..err..' Jack tried to form a sentence.

'Look, we slept together. Drunken mistake. No big deal.' Karen tried to make the situation easier.

'WHOA! You guys slept together?' Will was finally caught up.

'WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN FOR THE LAST TWENTY MINUTES?' Olivia shouted at Will, forgetting that he hadn't been informed when he'd asked.

'Wait a minute, you know?' Karen asked her stepdaughter.

'Honey, we all know.' Olivia answered.

'How, exactly, do you know?' Jack asked.

'Um, next time you guys get drunk and have sex, you might want to think about locking your door.' Olivia told them.

'Oh my god!' Karen suddenly realised everything that had happened. 'What have I done?' With that Karen ran out of the apartment.

'Karen! Wait there!' Jack followed her out of the apartment.

'Um, I guess that could have went better.' Elliot said semi-sarcastically.

'Could it have gone any worse?' Grace said to Elliot in a more sarcastic tone than he had used.

'Grace, you make a fair point.' Mason added his opinion.

'What do you think is going to happen with them now?' Will asked.

'I have no idea.' Olivia replied.

**A/N: There's chap 4! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed or is going to reviewed the last chaps. Enjoy! (And I'm sorry that this one is a bit short as well)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm glad everyone like the last chapter! I was laughing as I wrote it. I could just see the whole thing being acted out. In my head, so funny! Lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

The Monday after the weekend before arrived. Jack and Karen hadn't spoken to anyone, let alone each other, since that eventful Saturday morning. Nobody had any idea what had happened between Jack and Karen after they had left Will's apartment. Both Will and Grace had tried to get an answer from Jack at his door, but to no avail.

'Do you think it's weird that Jack and Karen haven't spoken to us… or each other all weekend?' Will said.

'Think about it. Jack will be hiding in his apartment convincing himself that he's gay and Karen, well, she'll be panicking over the fact that she slept with her gay best friend. I mean, even I haven't done that!' Grace explained.

'You make a fair point.'

---

Monday lunchtime at Olivia, Mason and Elliot's school and they and their friends were discussing their weekends

'We have the definitive weird weekend.' Mason declared.

'I'm not sure. Can it beat Lucy's weird weekend?' One for their friends asked.

'How about Olivia walking in on our stepmother and Elliot's gay dad?' Mason offered.

'Walking in on them doing what?' A naïve friend asked.

'Walking _in_ on them.' Mason attempted to explain.

'Ew!' The friend said when she realised what Mason had implied.

'Yep, that was the weirdest weekend.' Another friend admitted.

'Weirdest? Try most horrifying.' Olivia shouted.

'Have they spoken since?' Lucy asked.

'No. Is that weird that Jack and Karen haven't spoken in two days? They normally phone each other at least three times a day.' Elliot sounded worried.

'I don't know. Things have gotta be weird for them. I know Karen's feeling weird about the whole thing.' Olivia said.

'Well, can you blame her for being awkward about talking to her _gay _best friend whom she just slept with? Come on, Grace Adler hasn't even done that!' Lucy added.

Olivia turned to look at Elliot. 'How often do we talk about these people?'

---

After school Olivia did her usual thing and stopped by Grace's office. This time she was accompanied by Mason and Elliot.

'Hey Grace. Heard from Jack or Karen today?' Olivia hoped for an encouraging answer.

'No. I'm kinda worried about them. And it's not often that Karen doesn't show up for work at all.' Grace spoke in a tone that the kids had used so many times today.

'Do you think they'll ever speak again?' Mason asked.

'I hope so. I never realised on Saturday how much that could change everything. If they don't ever speak again, everything will change. I never thought I'd say this, but I would miss Jack and Karen being… well, Jack and Karen.' Grace explained.

'I know what you mean. I never realised how much I loved and admired their ability to be so crazy and how they managed to be so forward with each other.' Olivia expanded.

'It'll all be all right. ' Elliot said.

'It has to be.' Mason added.

---

Elliot made his way back to Jack's apartment in the hope that Jack would at least speak and not hide away in the corner.

'Hi, how are you?' Jack surprised Elliot by the fact that he was the first one to speak.

'Um, I'm okay. How are you? Elliot hoped this was a good sign.

'Depressed.' Not the answer Elliot was expecting. 'Confused. Worried.' More what Elliot had expected.

'Why?' Elliot knew he was venturing into dangerous territory.

' I have really messed everything up.' Jack said through light sobs.

'What do you mean?' Elliot asked, confused.

' Karen hates me. I know she does.'

'What makes you say that?'

'I've ruined our whole friendship over a stupid, drunken mistake that meant more to me than it did to her.'

'What do you mean?' Elliot was even more confused now.

'How could I be so stupid? Many times have I thought about this happening, and never ever did it involve a drunken night, and an awkward morning after.' Jack seemed to be unaware that Elliot was in the room. 'Now I've ruined any chance I had of being with her in the way I wanted. I hate myself because I scared her away,'

'Whoa!' Elliot whispered to himself.

---

Olivia and Mason had headed home with the same hope as Elliot had had: that Karen would be up for talking.

'You think this is going to go well?' Mason asked his sister.

'I'm not holding my breath.' Olivia answered as she walked through the door. 'Hey Karen. What's up?'

'I am so stupid.' Karen answered.

'How?' Mason asked.

'I had the perfect opportunity. And I blew it.'

'Karen, what opportunity did you blow?' Olivia asked.

'I blew the perfect opportunity to make him see how I feel.' Olivia realised what she meant instantly. Mason, on the other hand, was slower than she was.

'Um, how do you feel?' Mason asked such a seemingly stupid question.

'Are you stupid?' Olivia whispered.

'I blew my chance by running and screaming. Now I can never talk to him again because it's too weird and awkward and he'll never know how I feel.' Karen seemed oblivious to the fact that Olivia and Mason were in the room.

'Oh my god!' Mason whispered when he finally caught on to what Karen was meaning.

'Three years later!' Olivia said quietly but sarcastically.

'Not even Grace had done what I have.'

'How many times has that been said today?' Mason asked.

'I don't know. But we gotta find a way to make everything un-awkward. One way or another the truth is going to came out. And it ain't gonna be pretty.' Olivia said, while trying to work out everything in her head.

**A/N: There's chapter five! Let me know what you think. Thanks to everybody who reviewed the last chap. Special thanks to Linds how helped me so much. What would I do without ya hunny? x Enjoy!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Here's chapter 6. Wow, 6 chapters already. Anyway, Enjoy!**

Elliot was sitting in his music class the next morning, desperately hoping that Olivia and Mason would turn up soon. He had to tell them what he'd found out.

---

Olivia was sitting on the subway the next morning, desperately hoping that the subway she was on would be fixed soon. She had to tell Elliot what she'd found out. Olivia looked at her watch yet again and exhaled when she realised how late she already was.

'Public transport. You can never rely on it.' An older woman sitting next to Olivia stated.

'Why is it that when you need to be somewhere in a hurry, everything seems to be running late?' Olivia pointed out a well-known irony. 'I'm really late for school. And I hate being on the subway during rush hour, especially on my own. My brother has the flu. Today of all days. I have to tell Elliot everything on my own. That's going to be fun.'

'Who's Elliot?' The woman thought it was nice to make conversation. Who knows how long they'd be stuck on the subway for.

'He's my best friend. His dad and my stepmum are best friends as well. Or at least they were. They're going through… a thing just now. Mason, Elliot and I did have a plan to get them talking again but something Karen told me last night makes the whole situation so much more complicated. So now we've got to come up with a whole new plan which will need to involve Will and Grace who are going to pretend they know nothing.' Olivia was sort of talking to herself and coming up with a new plan.

'Ladies and gentleman, we apologise for the delay. The problem has been rectified and we resume travelling shortly.' The subway driver announced over the tannoy. Cries of 'finally' were heard all around the subway carriage. 'Thank you for being so patient.'

'It's not like we had any choice. We're stuck underground. What the hell else are we meant to do except be patient?' Olivia yelled to nobody in particular.

---

When Olivia finally made it to school, she had already missed her first class.

'Where the hell have you been?' Elliot yelled to greet Olivia when she finally made it to her Spanish class, which consisted of only eight people.

'My stupid subway broke down.' Olivia answered.

'I need to talk to you. The whole Jack/Karen situation just got one hundred times more complicated.' Elliot and Olivia didn't seem to realise that they were saying the same thing simultaneously, until neither could make out what the other was saying.

'Why don't you start?' Elliot said.

'Karen actually spoke last night. Told me that she blew the opportunity to make him see how she felt.' Olivia said, hoping that Elliot would get what Karen had meant by that quicker than Mason had the previous night.

'Oh my god! You know what Jack told me? He said many times had he thought about that happening, but never did it involve a drunken night and an awkward morning after.' Elliot told Olivia what Jack had said. They were unaware that everyone in the room, including the teacher, was listening to their conversation.

'Oh my god! Do you realise what that means?' Olivia said, shocked.

'I know. Jack likes Karen and Karen likes Jack. That is weird.' Elliot answered.

'Not as weird as the fact that Karen is my stepmother…and Jack is your father. Our parents like each other in _that_ way. How many best friends can say that?' Olivia gave her opinion.

'So do you think they'll go out?' Elliot asked.

'I don't know. When you think about it, they actually seem perfect for each other.' Olivia said, half-excitedly.

'I have one small point.' One of Olivia and Elliot's classmates piped up. 'I thought Elliot's dad Jack was gay.'

'Hmm, except for that.' Olivia backtracked.

**A/N: I know this is another short chapter and I'm really sorry. I promise that as I get more into the fic that the chapters will get longer. And I know that this is a really bad chapter and feel free to yell at me when you review. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I hope you enjoy, but I understand if you don't.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Here's chapter 7. Enjoy!**

'How could we forget that Jack's gay?' Elliot said, disgusted at their mistake.

'I don't know. I guess we were both caught up in the idea of Jack and Karen actually getting together that we forgot about the thing that actually makes the whole thing so complicated.' Olivia reasoned.

'What are we gonna do? We've got to get them to _at least _talk to each other again.' Elliot asked Olivia.

'Well, I'm not sure exactly, but my first thought is that we need to tell Will and Grace what Jack and Karen told us. I'm thinking something along the lines of getting Will and Grace to convince Jack and Karen to go somewhere so that they're in the same room at the same time.' Olivia suggested.

'I don't think either will show up if they know that the other will be there.' Elliot pointed out.

'Good point. Okay, so we get Will and Grace to tell them that the other _won't _be there!' Olivia was pleased with her idea.

'Liv, I don't think that will work. You know how stubborn Jack and Karen both are. Will and Grace wont be able to get them to go.' Elliot tried to point out a flaw in her plan.

'Well, we've just got to play to their likes. Now what do they both like?' Olivia started to think.

'Well Karen likes to drink, Jack likes to chat up men.' A classmate answered. 'Take them to a gay bar! Hell, take them to any bar!'

'NO!' Elliot and Olivia shouted simultaneously.

'What else do they like?' Olivia began to think again.

'They both like to belittle and laugh at people if that's any help.' The same classmate piped up again.

Elliot and Olivia looked at each other before saying the same thing: 'Game Night!'

---

'Wait, so he has feelings for her?' Grace asked.

'Yup.' Elliot answered.

'And she has feelings for him?' Will this time asked.

'Uh-huh.' Olivia answered.

'Wow. I mean I knew they loved each other but I didn't think in that way.' Grace elaborated.

I don't believe it. Jack's gay. Always has been. He marches nude in the Gay Pride Parade for god sakes.' Will said.

'Well apparently he's not as gay as we thought.' Olivia said to counter Will's comment.

'He'll get over it in like, I don't know, a week or something. It'll just be a phase he's going through.' Will maintained.

'I don't think so. He seemed really serious when he was talking to me about it. I haven't seen him like that. Ever.' Elliot commented.

'Anyway, before Will starts freaking out about the fact that he is now the gayest man out of everybody we know, we need you to have a game night.' Olivia began to explain the plan.

'Wait a minute, you _want _us to throw a game night?' Grace questioned.

'But… it would be three months early.' Will said, nearly in tears.

'Please, it's the only way we can think of to get Jack and Karen in the same room again so they con work things out.' Elliot pleaded.

'You really think it will work?' Grace asked.

'Yes. Just as long as you, Will, Joe, Larry, Rob and Ellen don't mind getting ridiculed a little bit.' Elliot said, hoping Will and Grace would help them.

'I don't know about that for two reasons. Reason one being Rob and Ellen wont be up for that and reason two being Jack and Karen will never agree to come to Game Night.' Will informed the kids.

'Well, in that case you tell Karen that there will be lots of booze and Jack… well, I was going to say tell him there will be hot guys there but I guess that won't work anymore.' Olivia said, thinking.

'Tell Jack that Larry is challenging his knowledge of the entertainment world. That way he'll show up just to prove himself.' Elliot suggested.

'That would work!' Olivia said, looking back round at Will and Grace.

'I have one last point.' Grace began. ' I don't think Jack and Karen will turn up if they know the other one is going to be there.'

'Grace, use your common sense!' Will shouted.

'I don't have any!' Grace whined.

'We won't tell them that the other is going to be there.' Will said sarcastically.

'So, you're on board?' Olivia asked, hopefully.

'We're on board.' Will answered.

'Jack and Karen need to _at least_ talk to each other again. They need to sort this mess out.' Grace added.

---

The next day, Karen wandered in to work. Grace noticed how depressed she looked. She hoped to god that Olivia and Elliot's plan would work.

'Hey Karen. Want a drink?' Grace asked, nervous as to what her answer would be.

'Nah. I don't feel like drinking.' Karen answered gloomily.

'Wow, this whole thing is really getting to you, isn't it?' Grace said, somewhere between asking Karen and just making a statement. Karen never answered. 'Hey, Will and I are holding Game Night a little bit early this year. You wanna come along?'

'I don't know.' Karen answered in the same tone as she had used the last time Grace spoke to her.

'Rob and Ellen will be there and you could make as much fun of them as you want. And there will be booze.' Grace said, not hinting anything about Jack's invite to the same night.

'I suppose I'll come. I could do with something to send me into a coma.' Karen accepted Grace's invitation, half-heartedly joking at the same time.

---

'I'm not sure about going to Game Night, Will. I don't feel much like being in company right now.' Jack declined.

'Okay then. But Larry will be crowned the King, or Queen, whichever he prefers, of Entertainment.' Will said, trying to convince Jack to go.

'What?' Jack asked, sounding shocked.

'He's challenging your knowledge of the entertainment world. He is challenging you to a contest. Whoever answers the most questions correctly will officially be the master of entertainment.' Will declared, hoping that the plan was working.

'No way. He's not taking my title from me!' Jack shouted. At least this was getting his mind off the whole thing, if only for a little while.

'So you'll be there?' Will asked.

'Damn right I'll be there!' Jack yelled.

---

The day of Game Night rolled around eventually. Olivia, Elliot and Mason were extremely nervous.

'Mason, why are you nervous? You're not even going to be there. You're going to be playing baseball or football or something. You're not going to have to pick up the pieces tonight if it all goes horribly wrong.' Olivia said, snapping at her brother.

'Hello. Bitchy much?' Mason asked sarcastically.

'Sorry, I'm just really nervous. What if it all goes wrong?' Olivia said.

'We'll cross that bridge if we come to it..' Mason answered, hugging his sister.

---

After a long and nerve filled wait, Will and Grace were setting up for everybody to arrive.

'Grace, Joe and Larry said that they'll be here in five minutes. We should probably fill them in on the plan, just in case something goes wrong tonight like Karen doesn't turn up and then Jack is still expecting and entertainment contest.' Will said.

'Right. I'm so nervous. Do you think it will go well?' Grace said, fidgeting with her hands.

'Who knows. I'm so nervous too.' Will answered.

'If we're this nervous, imagine how the kids are feeling right now. It's their whole family situation that could be affected tonight.' Grace added.

---

Rob, Ellen, Joe and Larry had all arrived at Will and Grace's apartment and had been brought up to speed with some of the situation.

'So remember, if Jack asks, you are challenging him to an entertainment contest. And if Karen arrives first, do _not_ mention that Jack will should be arriving soon.' Will reminded the group.

'So what am I supposed to be doing here?' Karen asked Olivia as they walked through the door to Will apartment.

'Just have fun.' Olivia answered. 'And not make too much fun of Rob and Ellen.'

'I don't think I can agree to that. Before the big snooze begins I'm going to go to the bathroom.' Karen said.

'Are they still coming?' Olivia whispered.

'Any minute now.' Grace answered.

'Larry, I'm gonna kick your ass in this contest!' Jack declared as he entered Will's apartment with Elliot. At that moment, Karen re-emerged from the bathroom.

'Jack?'

'Karen?'

'Bye!' Olivia and Elliot shouted simultaneously. Olivia headed to the balcony and Elliot headed towards the bedrooms. It was too much for them to watch. Nerves were getting the better of them.

'Um, we'll give you a minute.' Will said, before instructing the others to leave the apartment.

Jack and Karen looked at each other, as the others left, neither knowing what to do or say next…

**A/N: Hope you enjoy! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chap! Enjoy!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy! This is probably going to be quite a short chapter. Sorry!**

**_And it's killing me to know you_**

**_Without having a chance to hold you_**

**_And all I wanna do is show you_**

**_Is how I feel inside_**

**_You can run to me_**

**_You can laugh at me _**

**_Or you can walk right out that door_**

**_But I can't be your friend anymore_**

**_- Tim Rushlow, I Can't Be Your Friend -_**

Jack and Karen looked at each other, neither one knowing what to say or do next.

'Um, hi.' Karen said, looking down at the floor.

'Good opener, Karen.' Olivia whispered to herself. She was sitting on the balcony listening to the events inside the apartment.

'I guess hi is better than standing in silence.' Jack replied. Karen laughed slightly.

'This is a good sign.' Elliot whispered to himself in Will's bedroom. He didn't realise that he was shaking with nerves.

'Um what are we going to do?' Karen asked Jack, not knowing what answer to expect.

'I don't know. It depends what you want to do. But I don't know if I could deal with us _only _being friends.' Jack answered.

'What?' Karen asked.

'Wow, Elliot was right. He is serious.' Will said in the hall. He was listening in from the other side of the door.

'I couldn't handle not being with you. You have no idea how much I've wanted this to happen. But not like that. I've been hiding my feelings for so long because I was supposed to be gay. But I know that I can't be because there's no one I want to be with except you. If I can't make it work with you then I can't make it work with anybody because you're perfect.' Jack was sobbing.

'You have no idea how much I have wanted the same thing. I didn't say anything because you were my best friend and you were gay and I was married. But Stanley betrayed me then he died. Even when I was married to Stanley, I loved you.' Karen was also sobbing.

'Honey, I don't blame you.' Olivia commented on what Karen had just said even though Olivia knew her comment wouldn't be heard.

'It killed me that you were gay. You were the only one who was there for me through everything; the only one I could turn to; the only one who understood. You were the perfect guy for me – everything I'd ever wanted- but you were gay so I couldn't do anything. It killed me when you spoke about the last date you went on. I always wished that the last date you had gone on had been with me. And last Saturday, inside I was so happy that something had happened between us but something freaked me out. I didn't mean to scream and run away. When I got home, I hated myself so much for doing that to you. I though I'd blown my chance to be friends again, let alone anything more. I wanted to call you so much, but I thought that you hated me. I felt so stupid.' Karen was still sobbing.

'Karen, you weren't stupid.' Jack said whilst moving to hug her.

'I wanted so much to forget how I felt, but it was no use. The harder I tried to forget, the more it hurt.' Karen concluded.

'I wanted to forget how I felt too. But I couldn't. I wouldn't. I want to be with you more than anything. But if you don't want to be with me then we can't be friends. I couldn't deal with not being with you. I couldn't be only your friend anymore. As much as it would hurt never seeing again, it would hurt me more being only your friend and not being with you. I want to be with you but do you want to be with me?' Jack was also still sobbing.

'Yes. Yes, I do!' Karen said before kissing Jack romantically. Olivia and Elliot, both hearing this, emerged from the balcony to watch what was going on, both with the biggest smiles on their faces. Their plan had work much better than they had anticipated.

'Do you want to dance?' Jack said heading toward the CD player.

'Yeah.' Karen answered.

_**I can't read the future  
But I still want to hold you close  
Right now, is all I want from you  
So give me the morning  
Sharing another day  
With you, is all I want to know **_

And baby I, I've tried to forget you  
But the light of your eyes still shine  
You shine like an angel  
A spirit that won't let me go

I didn't want to tell you  
Things I didn't want to know myself  
I was afraid to show  
But you gave me a reason  
A reason to face the truth  
To face the truth, face the truth, face the truth

And baby I've tried to forget you  
But the light of your eyes still shine  
You shine like an angel  
A spirit that won't let me go  
Won't let me go  
Let go of my heart

Olivia, watching them dance, couldn't help but notice how cute they were. Elliot noticed the same thing form the other side of the room.

'How are we going to tell everybody about this?' Karen asked, still holding on to Jack.

'Well, I think telling Olivia and Elliot is already taken care of.' Jack said, looking around the room at his new family.

**A/N: I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm not sure how good it is. Thank you to everybody who reviewed the last chap! Enjoy! And I'm sorry about the bad formatting at the start of the chap. The song that Jack and Karen dance to is 'Angel' by Jon Secada.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Here's the next chap. And to Stuart Foot- I know the last chapter was a little weak. This is my first shot at writing a J/K fic so I'm trying my best but I'm still learning how to write this kind of fic. I'm sorry that you found the last chapter weak. I did too a bit but I didn't know how to improve it so I uploaded it to see what everyone else thought. Thanks for telling me that you thought it was weak. I'm going to try to make the coming chapters stronger and I appreciate your comments. Lol, and I'm sorry if I seem to be babbling on a bit. I'm not getting at you or anything. I hope you keep reading. Lol.**

**Everybody has to read Lindsey's fic 'All Coming Back'. Omg it is amazing. So horribly beautifully written (if you read the fic that will make more sense!) I can assure you, you will be crying so much. Hunny, it was so brilliant. Thank you for letting us all read it- this chap's for you!**

The Monday after the weekend before arrived again except this Monday came after a much better weekend. Jack and Karen were _more than speaking_ again. It was hard to get a hold of them, but for a different, yet similar, reason

---

'See, didn't I tell you two that it would be a good idea to bring lots of clothes to Will and Grace's?' Olivia said to Elliot and Mason whilst they were all gathering bits and pieces for going to school

'You did. How exactly are we going to get to school this morning? We can't get the bus and I ain't disturbing anyone for a lift.' Elliot wondered, trying to fix his tie.

'Duh, the subway.' Olivia answered.

'I'll take you all.' Will offered emerging from the bathroom, preparing to leave for work.

'Or Will can take us.' Olivia added, accepting Will's offer.

'So, heard from Jack and Karen this weekend?' Mason asked, Elliot and Olivia asking at his seemingly dangerous question.

'Are you kidding?' Will answered sarcastically. 'I don't think we'll be hearing from them for a while yet.' Just then, somebody could be heard singing at the top of their lungs out in the hall.

'_Loving you is easy 'cause you're beautiful.' _It was obviously Jack's voice.

'Then again, I could be wrong.' Will corrected himself sounding annoyed. Olivia, Mason and Elliot searched around frantically for a place to hide.

'It's no use! There's nowhere to hide in here!' Mason said panicking. He knew that once Jack started singing at the top of his lungs, there was just no stopping him.

'Make a run for the stairs!' Olivia yelled.

'How are you kids going to get to school?' Will asked.

'We'll take the subway!' Elliot yelled as the three of them made their way out of the door. Olivia gave a thumbs-up sign from the front of the stampede to tell Elliot that she was on board with that plan. Will heard the stair door shutting a few seconds before his door was opened by the sound of Jack still singing.

'Please shut up.' Will asked politely.

'_La la la la la_.' Jack either ignored Will's request or couldn't hear him.

'Shut up.' Will said more sternly this time.

'_La la la l-'_

'SHUT UP!' Will had no choice but to yell.

'Whoa… what's up with you?' Jack asked, offended at being interrupted during his _performance._

'For one thing Grace is still asleep and another thing it's 7.30!' Will said quieter while pouring himself a glass of orange juice.

'Who the f- hey Jack!' Grace emerged from her bedroom, still half-asleep. 'What have you been up to?' Grace hadn't realised the how wrong her question was until Will nearly choked on his juice. 'Wait a minute. Don't answer that.'

---

On the subway, Olivia, Mason and Elliot were discussing their lucky escape from being the first to hear about Jack's likely knew cabaret show.

'I bet Will's getting the previews of Jack 2006!' Elliot joked.

'Yup, which chances are will have about thirty-million show tunes in it. It's Jack we're talking about here.' Mason joked.

'Yeah but you see- the last time Jack _wrote_ one of his _shows _he was gay and not dating our stepmother.' Olivia raised her point.

'Oh yeah.' Mason said in a realising tone.

---

'Whose plan worked?' Olivia boasted to her small Spanish class who ironically knew the whole story.

'What happened?' One of their classmates asked.

'Well, you know how we were trying to get them talk to each other again. Well we kinda got them a few stages further than that.' Elliot said semi-sarcastically.

'Oh my god. That's freaky.' Another classmate stated.

'It weird for you…' Mason said sardonically.

'Sir, did you hear that Olivia's mum and Elliot's dad are going out?' A childish classmate said as their teacher entered the room with some textbooks.

'Aaww, Elliot and Olivia are going out. How sweet!' The teacher's understanding of simple English was at times questionable.

'Ew! No! My _mum_ and Elliot's _dad_!' Olivia corrected the teacher by yelling.

'That's just weird.' Elliot said, disgusted.

'Are you both like your mum and dad?' The teacher seemed overly interested in the subject.

'Mason, please tell me that I am nothing like Karen.' Olivia said in a desperate tone.

'And please tell me I'm nothing like Jack.' Elliot used the same tone.

'Um…' Mason could only answer with that.

'Oh no!' Olivia laid her head on her desk.

'It could be worse.' Elliot pointed out.

'How? How could it be worse?' Olivia asked.

'You could be Will and Grace.' Mason answered.

'Is that meant to be more horrifying? Because it's just not!' Olivia shrieked at him.

**A/N: I know this is short and nothing much happens but it's just a filler. Hope you enjoy! Thank you to everyone how reviewed the last chapter. Enjoy!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Here's the next chapter! Enjoy! And Linds, I'm so sorry. I can't review your last two chapters. You have no idea how many times I've tried but I just can't find the right things to say! How the hell am I supposed to review that! Well done to anyone who managed! Lol.**

It was Friday night – the night of Olivia, Mason and Elliot's school disco. All three of the kids were in a good mood and looking forward to night with their friends. Olivia was getting ready at the Walker penthouse; Elliot was getting ready at Jack's and Mason was at another friend's house.

'_You were meant to live large, Come on, take charge, Let's go light the world up, Let's not wait until the end, To be the things we wish we'd been.'_ Olivia was wandering around trying to find her shoes, singing at the same time. She was sure she'd left them lying somewhere._  
_

'_You were meant to live li-' _Olivia's singing was stopped by a bunch of clothes hitting her face. 'What the hell?' Olivia entered Karen's room. Karen was obviously panicking. 'Um, what are you doing?' Olivia asked.

'I can't find the right outfit!' Karen yelled.

'For what?' Olivia asked, wondering why clothes were getting Karen in a state.

'I'm going out with Jack and I CAN'T FIND THE RIGHT OUTFIT!' Karen hollered.

'Oh yeah. Okay. Right, let me have a look. This is nice. How about this?' Olivia said, holding out a red dress from Karen's wardrobe.

'No! It makes me look fat.' Karen said, grabbing the dress from Olivia's hand and throwing it in the direction of the door.

'Okay, who the hell are you and what the hell have you done with Karen?' Olivia said in a serious tone. She was really joking. 'What the hell are you worrying about? Let's take a look at some of these outfits you…threw away. Or why don't you wear your new Gucci suit?' Olivia hoped she was helping but she wasn't holding her breath for it.

'No it's too casual.' Karen answered desperately.

'Well, what about dress?' Olivia held out a black evening dress.

'Too fancy.' Karen answered.

'Where are you even going? That might help me out.' Olivia asked, annoyed that her help wasn't helping.

'Balthazar.' Karen answered.

'Then what was wrong with the suit? It's not too casual for Balthazar.' Olivia was confused with why Karen had dismissed the suit.

'It's too casual for a first date and I don't have shoes to go with it.'

'How the hell can you not have shoes to go with it? You have every pair of designer shoes in the world!' Olivia yelled, before going back to raiding Karen's wardrobe.

---

'Jack for the last time, you… booked… a … table… at… Balthazar.' Elliot said in a mocking tone after Jack asked yet again if he had remembered to book a table.

'Did I-' Jack was about to ask another question.

'Yes, you remembered the flowers.' Elliot answered, annoyed at the constant questioning.

'Did I-'

'Yes, you also remembered the gift.' Elliot said, handing Jack a small necklace box.

'What if she hates it? What if she thinks it's ugly? What if-' Jack was getting himself into a panic.

'Calm down. Take a chill pill.' Elliot began. 'She'll love it.'

'Are you sure?' Jack asked worrying about what could happen.

'Yes, I'm sure. Now what time are you picking Karen up?' Elliot continued a calm conversation with Jack.

'Eight. What if the cab is late?' Jack got himself back into a panicked state.

'Oh for the love of god. I'm never going to get to the disco am I?' Elliot whispered to himself.

---

'Okay Karen. I've been through every item of clothing in your wardrobe. You have two options. Option number one- this Prada suit with these shoes or option number two- this black dress with this wrap and these shoes.' Olivia displayed each of the items before placing the carefully on the table.

'They're not good enough.' Karen answered.

'Okay then.' Olivia began walking out of the wardrobe. 'I'm gonna have to call Grace and see if you can borrow something of hers then.'

'Black dress! I'll wear the black dress!' Karen yelled.

'I knew that would work!' Olivia whispered to herself.

---

'Hey Mason! Where are Olivia and Elliot?' One of their friends asked.

'I have…no idea! Olivia was getting ready at home and Elliot was getting ready at Jack's so I don't have the faintest idea where either of them has got to.' Mason answered, a hint of concern evident in his voice.

'Oh my god! Jack is so annoying.' Elliot had arrived at the disco.

'Where have you been?' Mason asked.

'Trying to escape from Riverside Drive before Jack starts panicking over whether he even asked Karen out on the date!' Elliot sounded relieved to be away.

'Ah. I see.' Mason said.

'My guess is that that has got something to do with why Olivia hasn't arrived yet.' Elliot explained.

---

'Okay, I'm going to leave to go to the disco which I am already an hour late for.' Olivia said.

'Liv?' Karen sounded nervous.

'Yeah?'

'Could you do my make-up? I can't keep my hand steady.' Karen didn't really want to ask Olivia to do more for her than she'd already done tonight.

Olivia took a look at her watch. If she missed the disco, she missed the disco. This was more important. 'Sure.' Olivia answered while searching through Karen's make-up.

---

'There you go. Is the make-up okay?' Olivia hoped that she had done a good enough job. Doing make-up wasn't her strong point.

'Honey, it's great. Thank you.'

'You're welcome. Now, am I allowed to leave now or do you want me to wait until Jack picks you up?'

'No, honey. You can go. Have fun.' Karen let her stepdaughter go.

'Good luck. Everything will be fine. Stop worrying.' Olivia tried to calm Karen's nerves. 'You'll be fine. Come here! Stop being so nervous.' Olivia hugged her stepmother.

'Have a good night.' Karen said to Olivia.

'You too.'

---

Olivia eventually made it to the disco nearly two hours late.

'Where the hell have you been?' Mason asked her.

'Helping Karen get ready for her date with Jack. She's so nervous. It's so cute.' Olivia said whilst getting rid of her coat.

'Jack was so nervous too. Actually, he wasn't so much nervous as he was annoying. He kept asking me whether he had remembered this, that and the next thing!' Elliot told of his experience.

'You think that's annoying? Try going through every item of clothing in Karen's wardrobe, which is a lot by the way, every pair of shoes she has, again a lot, trying to find an outfit that will meet her standards. The outfit couldn't be too casual or too fancy. I eventually had to use the 'borrowing outfits from Grace' card to get her to choose.' Olivia said.

'What did she eventually go with?' Mason asked.

'A black dress with a black wrap thingy and Prada slingbacks.' Olivia answered.

'Do you know about the necklace Jack has bought her?' Elliot asked.

'No. What is it?' Olivia said, interested.

'He got her a little diamond heart with an inscription. For some reason, he wouldn't let me see that the inscription said.' Elliot answered.

'That's weird.' Mason answered. Just then, the DJ switched the song from and fast tempo to a ballad. Olivia and Elliot immediately recognised the song.

'Is that?' Elliot began to ask.

'It it!' Olivia said. 'Wow, talk about coincidence.'

'Do you want to dance?' Elliot asked.

'Yeah.' Olivia answered.

_**I can't read the future  
But I still want to hold you close  
Right now, is all I want from you  
So give me the morning  
Sharing another day  
With you, is all I want to know **_

_**And baby I, I've tried to forget you  
But the light of your eyes still shine  
You shine like an angel  
A spirit that won't let me go**_

_**I didn't want to tell you  
Things I didn't want to know myself  
I was afraid to show  
But you gave me a reason  
A reason to face the truth  
To face the truth, face the truth, face the truth**_

_**And baby I've tried to forget you  
But the light of your eyes still shine  
You shine like an angel  
A spirit that won't let me go  
Won't let me go  
Let go of my heart**_

'I wonder how Jack and Karen are getting on.' Olivia said.

'Let me guess. That song has made you nervous.' Elliot laughed.

'Yep! That's weird. The song that Jack and Karen danced to for the first time as a couple gets played at our disco on the night that Jack and Karen are on their first official date.' Olivia defended her nervousness.

'Hey. Where are you guys all staying tonight?' One of Olivia, Mason and Elliot's friends asked.

'Ah, good point!' Elliot joked.

'Whose place will be safer? Jack or Karen's?' Mason asked.

Olivia pulled her phone out of her pocket. 'Will and Grace's.'

**A/N: There's chapter 10! Hope you enjoy. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! And Linds, you better get writing! The song Olivia was singing is 'Super Trooper' by Superchick.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Enjoy:) I'm sorry it took so long to update. Today is the first timeFF dot nethas let me upload in a week.**

The disco ended just an hour after Olivia had arrived. It hadn't been the best of discos, not the Olivia, Mason and Elliot had been paying attention. They'd spent most of the night discussing Jack, Karen and their first date. All three knew that tomorrow would be fun to begin with, then would get boring once they'd heard the same story of the date fifty times.

'What do you guys want to do now?' Elliot asked Olivia and Mason.

'Well, don't take this the wrong way, but does anybody fancy doing some spying?' Olivia asked.

'On what or who?' Elliot asked.

'Who the hell do you think?' Olivia said sarcastically. Elliot was looking at her as if she was talking nonsense or making stuff up.

'Wait. You're not suggesting-' Mason was cut off.

'Yes I am suggesting.' Olivia said briefly.

'That's mean! You can't spy on them. They're on a date! What if they end up…doing…something…we don't really want to see or know about?' Mason asked, shocked at Olivia's suggestion.

'That is when we hotfoot it to Will and Grace's. Come on! What else are we gonna be doing? We just need to make sure they don't see us!' Olivia explained the plan with a _lot_ of hand gestures for effect.

'Ah, what the hell. Let's do some spying. And who knows? We might be able to bribe Will and Grace!' Mason agreed to the plan.

'Now you're thinking!' Olivia was strangely proud of her brother's intention, evil and gold digging as they were.

'I'm not sure.' Elliot maintained.

'Get a grip, sissy!' Mason said in a very Karen-like manner, which freaked both Elliot and Olivia out.

'Okay, Karen. I'll go spy on mum and dad's first date.' Elliot said sarcastically while Olivia tried to stop herself laughing hysterically.

'Why did he just call me Karen?' Mason whispered to Olivia, this time making Elliot struggle to contain his laughter.

'I have…no idea!' Olivia said, trying to hide the sarcasm in her voice.

'So, where are they?' Mason asked, still confused as to why Elliot had called him Karen.

'Balthazar.' Olivia and Elliot answered simultaneously.

'How exactly are we going to be able to spy on them in a restaurant?' Mason asked.

'Ever heard of a thing called a window?'

'Thank you for that Olivia.' Mason answered sardonically. 'We can't just peer into a restaurant.'

'Well, I don't think they'll be in the restaurant all that much longer. They will already have been eating for over two hours. It doesn't take that long for a meal. Then we just see where they go after that.' Olivia explained.

'Fine then. But if we get caught, I'm not taking the blame.' Elliot agreed reluctantly.

'Fine, just get a move on!' Olivia said, walking outside.

---

Arriving at the window of Balthazar, Olivia was regretting her idea of spying. In just a skirt and T-shirt, she was shivering and soaking wet from the recently stopped rain, as were Elliot and Mason. Walking through New York City in December – not a good idea. Walking through New York City in a skirt and T-shirt in December- even worse idea. Olivia was quickly and harshly learning this. Peering into Balthazar window, trying not to make it obvious she was looking in, Olivia searched through all of the tables, looking for where Jack and Karen were sitting. Without her glasses, Olivia was squinting, trying to focus her eyes and in general struggling to see in. Mason and Elliot were discussing how cold and wet they where, despite having thick coats and jeans. Olivia shook her head at their _discomfort _with the weather. If they only knew what it was like to be a woman always choosing fashion over practicality.

'I don't see them. And that fire looks good.' Olivia stated. 'Wait, I think I see them. Shit, they're getting their coats. Hide!' All three hid round the corner of the restaurant.

'Wait!' Mason was stage whispering.

'What?' As was Olivia.

'What if they come round this way?' Mason asked logically, or so he thought.

'Look behind you. It's the restaurant bins. They're not going to come round this way!' Olivia answered while trying to listen for Jack and Karen leaving the restaurant.

'So. Where are we going now?' Karen asked Jack once they had exited the restaurant.

'Shhhh!' Elliot said a little too loudly.

'Did you hear that?' Jack said to Karen, recognising his son's voice. Olivia turned round and gave Elliot the meanest look he or Mason had ever seen from her.

'It came from round that corner.' Karen said.

'Crap!' Elliot whispered to himself.

'We're screwed!' Mason said, looking around like a crazy person. 'There's nowhere for us to run!'

'What the? Have you been spying on us?' Jack said when he looked around the corner and saw the three kids.

'Uh-oh, busted.' Elliot said.

'Yes and no. No we haven't been spying on everything. Yes we have only been spying for five minutes.' Olivia said, hoping her little joke would lighten their spirits about it.

'Elliot, how could you spy?' Jack asked his son sternly.

'Mason made me! He called me a sissy and told me to get a grip!' Elliot said, pointing at Mason for effect.

'I did not!' Mason retorted.

'Okay, I'm sorry but I'm on Elliot's side in this one. Mason, ya did call Elliot a sissy. You went all high-pitched and squeaky. You sounded like Karen!' Olivia said, trying to stop herself laughing.

'So that's why he was calling me Karen for about half an hour!' Mason said in a realising tone.

'Well, duh!' Olivia said sarcastically. 'We're not just going to call you Karen for the hell of it are we?'

'No. I suppose not. But that was mean.' Mason whined. Jack and Karen were nearly in stitches watching this little argument play out.

'Now we still have the question of why were you spying on us.' Karen started.

'Because we were bored at the disco and we have nothing better to do with our lives.' Olivia had a thing for using sarcasm. 'How about we just go and leave you to your date, we'll go to Will and Grace's and we all forget this ever happened?'

'Okay.' Karen agreed.

'Fine. We'll see you kids tomorrow, assuming you're staying at Will and Grace's?' Jack questioned.

'Yes we will be at Will and Grace's!' Mason said. 'I ain't going home!' Mason whispered to Elliot. 'Bye!'

Once Jack and Karen were a little down the street, Elliot turned to Olivia and Mason and said: 'I guess we're heading to Will and Grace's then.'

'Are you kidding? We're still gonna be spying. You were right Mason. He really is a sissy.' Olivia said jokingly.

---

An hour or so later, Olivia, Mason and Elliot had followed Jack and Karen around New York City. Jack and Karen had been walking hand-in-hand the entire time, so much so that Elliot and Mason were sick of Olivia's constant observations of their cuteness.

'Aw, they're –' Olivia began.

'Do NOT say it!' Elliot and Mason shouted concurrently, getting the attention of Jack and Karen who were a few metres in front of them. Olivia noticed them turning around and looking in their direction.

'Okay, when they ask we're on our way to Will and Grace's!' Olivia quickly laid out a crisis plan.

'I thought we told you not to follow us.' Karen began.

'We're on our way to Will and Grace's.' Olivia began. 'We wanted to walk the way where there would be people about and not walk through the park to be safe.'

'I'm not sure you're telling the truth, but we'll let you off. Just as long as you go _straight _to Will and Grace's.' Jack warned them.

'We're going right there. Bye!' Elliot ended the conversation-slash-telling-off. 'Okay, now will you two agree to actually go to Will and Grace's?'

'Fine.' Mason reluctantly agreed.

'Oh what the hell, we'll hear about it in the morning. Or afternoon depending…' Olivia decided to let the sentence hang in mid air.

'Olivia, you have a dirty mind.' Elliot said in a disgusted tone.

'Hey, I've been with Jack, Karen, Will and Grace everyday since I was a little kid so it's no wonder!' Olivia defended herself.

'Okay you have a point.' Elliot said as an afterthought.

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Enjoy!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Here's the next chap! Enjoy!**

'Hey kids!' Grace greeted as Olivia, Mason and Elliot wandered through the door. 'Where have you been? We were expecting you over an hour ago.'

'Well, we would have been here earlier if Olivia hadn't insisted that we spy on Jack and Karen.' Elliot answered, effectively passing the blame to Olivia.

'Ah, I see.' Spying was not something that was beyond Grace. 'If you were spying then why are you here so early?'

'We got caught.' Olivia answered. 'Twice.'

'You know, getting caught is not part of being a spy.' Will seriously, but sarcastically, answered.

'Do you want me to throw this pillow at you?' Olivia answered Will in the same manner as he had addressed her. 'Because I'll do it!'

'So how was it going from what you saw?' Grace asked.

'Um, I think it was going well.' Mason replied.

'I guess we'll find out for real in the morning. Goodnight.' Olivia said before heading in the direction of the bathroom.

'By the way, why are you three staying here?' Grace asked.

'We don't want to go to either of our homes.' Elliot answered.

'Why not?' Grace yet again asked.

'In case Jack and Karen go back to either one.' Mason added.

'So they go back? What's the big deal?' Grace didn't seem to understand what they were getting at. 'Oh, I see.' Grace realised.

---

Olivia woke up early on the Saturday morning realising that her staying at Will and Grace's to avoid going home and possibly bumping into Jack and Karen plan hadn't quite worked because she had go home to get her ballet stuff and Mason and Elliot would also have to go home to get their things for musical theatre training.

'Olivia, always, always think your plans through first!' Olivia said to herself before getting up.

---

An hour later, Olivia was ready and preparing to leave for her house. Opening the door of Will and Grace's apartment, she almost tripped over the four bags sitting in front of the door.

'What the…?' Olivia whispered. She picked up the note that was lying on top of one of the bags. 'Thought you might need these since we know that you're staying at Will and Grace's to avoid us. Love Jack and Karen. P.S, you suck at spying.' Olivia read the note aloud. 'Thank you for that.' Olivia said sarcastically to herself. 'Since when did they leave notes signed from the both of them?'

---

Ballet class had ran longer than expected, so Olivia had to make her way to musical theatre straight from ballet. She was desperate to get there, hoping that Mason and Elliot would have found out more about how Jack and Karen's date had gone. The subway she was on was already running fifteen minutes late when it suddenly grinded to a halt.

'Ladies and gentlemen, we appear to have a problem with the subway.' The driver announced over the tannoy.

'You think?' Olivia shouted sarcastically.

'We will hopefully be back on the move again shortly. Please be patient with us. Thank you.' The announcement continued.

'I never have any luck on the subway.' Olivia stated.

---

Olivia barely made it to musical theatre training on time. When she arrived, she ran straight over to Mason and Elliot.

'Hey, did you hear how it went last night?' Olivia asked.

'Yeah. But firstly, why do you have ballet hair?' Mason asked, making reference to Olivia's hair being in a bun.

'Because I've been at ballet.' Olivia answered back sarcastically.

'You know, that makes sense.' Mason said in a realising tone.

'Okay, so tell me what you know.' Olivia ordered.

'Okay. Everything went well and they are still going out with each other.' Elliot told her.

'That's it? That's what I've been waiting to hear for the last four hours?' Olivia shook her head. 'What about that necklace thingy? What's the dealio with that?'

'I don't know. He never gave it to her.' Elliot answered.

'What? What not?' Olivia said, sounding shocked.

'I don't know but I think there's more to that necklace than Jack was letting on.' Elliot said.

'What could that inscription say for Jack not to let you see it and for him not to even give it to Karen?' Mason asked.

'I don't have a Scooby-Doo.' Elliot answered.

'Well, we'll figure it out soon.' Olivia declared.

'How do you get that?' Mason wondered.

'We always do.' Olivia answered.

**A/N: I know it's a short chapter. Sorry. Anyways hope you enjoy! Thanks to everyone who reviewed/is going to review. I love you all! **


	13. Chapter 13

'What are you guys doing for the holidays?' Olivia and Mason were asked.

'We're probably going to have another one of those boring holidays that we've had every year since our dad died.' Mason answered.

'Yeah, we all sit around and do bugger all for the whole time it's very fun. We usually go to Will and Grace's on Christmas Day which is fun. It's the highlight of the holidays!' Olivia added.

'What about you Elliot?'

'I'm not sure but I assumed that Jack and Karen would be doing something on Christmas.' Elliot said.

'I never even thought about that.' Mason admitted.

'Hmm, maybe it won't be a boring Christmas after all.' Olivia said in a hopeful tone.

---

'So do you promise not to tell them?' Jack asked Will and Grace.

'Well, I can keep a secret. Grace on the other hand…' Will joked.

'I can so keep a secret!' Grace whined.

'Grace?' Will asked.

'Okay, no I can't.' Grace admitted.

'Well, you're gonna have to. Just for two days. I don't want them finding out about this.' Jack told her humourlessly.

'I can try.' Grace said.

'Thank you. That's all I can ask.' With that, Jack left Grace's office.

'Is it just me or since dating Karen had Jack gone very…Family Guy?' Grace asked Will.

'I don't think it's just you. I've noticed it too.' Will answered. 'Which do you prefer? New Jack or Old Jack?'

'New. I don't know why but I just do.' Grace answered. 'What about you?'

'New Jack.' Will answered without a second of thought.

---

Olivia woke up on Christmas Morning with the same feeling of excitement she used to have when she was a little kid, hoping Santa had left her lots of great toys and presents for her to open. She woke up thinking she was still four years old. When the realisation hit her that she was, in fact, fourteen years old, she was puzzled by what was making her that hyper. After spending a very long five minutes trying to figure it out, she realised that it was because the penthouse had been full of joy leading up to Christmas instead of being full of sorrow, thinking of Christmases past. The spirit in the penthouse had been more 'deck the halls with boughs of holly' rather than 'deck the graveyard with a bouquet of flowers.' Christmas songs had been played constantly for the week leading up to Christmas and Christmas shopping had been the main activity. Correction- helping Karen try to figure out what a perfect Christmas present for Jack had been the main activity. Oh right- that was what was different about this year.

---

'Oh, this present is for me!' Olivia shrieked finding a present for her.

'Calm down. You're not four years old anymore!' Mason joked.

'That's what I woke up thinking this morning! Okay, so this is from…who the hell are Marilyn and George?' Olivia said, confused.

'Um, that's Will's mum and dad I think.' Karen answered.

'Yeah it is.' Jack answered, surer than Karen had.

'Since when did they send me gifts?' Olivia asked nobody in particular whilst opening the present. 'What the hell is this?' Olivia asked, holding up the doll they had sent her.

'Um, it's a doll.' Mason naively answered.

'Yeah, I know.' Olivia answered sarcastically.

'Then why did you ask?' Mason asked in an annoyed fashion.

'Despite what I woke up thinking this morning, I am not four years old. I don't play with dolls anymore!' Olivia said, tossing the _gift_ aside.

'Okay, You all have to open these envelopes at the same time.' Jack said, handing them an envelope each.

'What's this?' Karen asked quietly.

'Open it and see!' Jack said, sounding as if he felt like he was stating the obvious.

'What? This looks like a plane ticket.' Mason stated so matter-of-factly.

'Leaving from JFK airport.' Olivia said, reading off her plane ticket.

'Flying to Kingston, Jamaica.' Elliot continued.

'Leaving on 28th December.' Mason continued the reading.

'What's this?' Karen asked after the kids had finished reading.

'Do you like it?' Jack asked, excitedly.

'We might if we knew what it was.' Karen answered derisively.

'I am treating all of you to a holiday in Jamaica.' Jack announced. The size of Olivia's eyes increased in diameter by almost three centimetres. Elliot and Mason looked at each other in sheer disbelief.

'Are you kidding us?' Karen asked on behalf of them all.

'No, we leave on Monday!' Jack was close to shouting.

'Oh my god!' Olivia said. 'Can I go pack?'

'Yeah, you better considering we're leaving ON MONDAY!' Jack yelled at her.

'Woo!' Olivia ran up the stairs

'Right behind you!' Mason said, following her up the stairs.

'I might as well help you pack.' Elliot reluctantly said.

'I can't believe you're taking us all on holiday. Thank you so much.' Karen leaned in kiss Jack.

'Get a room!' A voice came from the stairs.

'Hey, Elliot. Mind your own business!' Karen yelled up the stairs

'Okay!'

**A/N: Thank you to Pam and Linds who reviewed. Hope you enjoy!Everyone else,R and R please!**


	14. Chapter 14

'We're leaving on a jet plane. We don't know when we'll be back again.' Mason and Olivia sang as they dragged their suitcases down the stairs.

'Hyper much?' Karen asked, whilst gathering things in her hand baggage.

'We're leaving on a jet plane!' Mason shouted.

'Does anybody want travel sickness pills before I out them into the bag?' Karen asked.

'Nah, I don't get travel sick.' Olivia stated whilst dancing around the room.

'Me neither.' Mason said.

'Do you have your passports?' Karen was trying to make sure they had everything before they left.

'No.' Olivia and Mason answered in chorus.

'Why not?'

'Because you have them.' Olivia responded.

Karen thought for a moment before answering. 'So I do. Go back to your singing and dancing.' Olivia and Mason looked at each other and nodded, before doing exactly a Karen had told them.

'We're all going on our Christmas holidays!' As Olivia and Mason sang and danced, Jack and Elliot walked in the door.

'How can you be so hyper at eleven thirty at night?' Jack asked.

'Because…help me out here Olivia.' Mason said. Olivia nodded in agreement.

'We're leaving on a jet plane. We don't know when we'll be back again!' Mason and Olivia continued to sing and dance.

'How long have they been like that?' Jack asked Karen quietly.

'Since 6.30 this morning.' Karen answered. 'They woke me up with their singing and dancing.'

'Poor you.' Jack said sympathetically.

'Yeah, thanks!' Karen answered in mock sarcasm.

---

The cab to the airport was a lot of fun, especially for the singing twins.

'Here, take a twenty dollar tip for putting up with their singing.' Karen said, whilst paying the driver.

'Okay, so where do we check in?' Elliot said.

'Inside probably. Somebody find a suitcase trolley.' Jack said, digging the suitcases out of the cab. Mason and Olivia immediately went to find a trolley, still singing and dancing. Karen and Jack continued loading suitcases out of the cab when Olivia and Mason returned, flying on the trolleys.

'God, you two are worse than kids.' Jack stated.

'Hey! We're choosing to act our shoe sizes!' Olivia protested.

'By the way, what is your shoe size?' Elliot asked.

'Four.' Olivia answered sheepishly.

'And what's yours?' Mason was asked this time.

'Five.' Mason answered even more sheepishly than Olivia had.

'Aw, how cute! You two have tiny feet!' Elliot giggled, before getting hit across the head by Olivia's hand.

---

Waiting in the long check-in line certainly calmed the shoe size acting, crazily dancing Olivia and Mason down. Waiting in the line almost bored them to tears. At least now, they were called up to the check-in desk.

'I'm sorry to tell you that there is already an hour delay on your flight.' The check-in assistant told them. This was answered by a series of grunts that came form Karen, Elliot, Olivia and Mason.

'Why? What's the problem?' Jack asked.

'There was a flight cancelled earlier so it has had a knock-on effect on all of our other flights.'

'Oh man!' Olivia said.

'Liv, I wouldn't worry. It just means we have more time to shop in duty-free.' Karen said, trying to make the most out of a bad situation.

'Oh yay! More shopping time!'

'Teenage girls.' Jack jokingly said to the check-in assistant.

'Hey!' Olivia shouted.

---

Two hours into the flight, they had already flown through some bad turbulence. It was messing with Olivia's stomach. Now that they seemed to be flying through a calm sky, Olivia tired to put her head down and sleep off the nauseous feeling.

'Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We appear to be coming up to more turbulence. Please fasten your seatbelts until the seatbelt light flashes off.'

'Damn. For god sake. Why didn't I take those travel sickness pills?' Olivia whispered to herself. Not taking the travel sickness tablets had been a bad decision. They still had another four hours to fly, and by the looks of it, another four hours through turbulence. Sitting in the window seat – also not the best decision Olivia had ever made. And she argued so much for that seat too.

'Liv, you don't look so good.' Mason said. He was answered with an evil look. 'Oops. Should have kept my big mouth shut.'

'Move! Move! Let me out!' Olivia shouted. 'Come on, do you want me to throw up all over you?' Olivia sarcastically asked, battling her way past Elliot and Mason before quickly making her way to the toilet.

'Is she throwing up?' Karen asked sleepily from the other side of the aisle.

'I'll get her.' Jack said, getting up from his seat. 'Olivia, are you okay?' Jack asked through the airplane toilet door. He was answered with the sound of vomiting.

'Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to take your seat. The seatbelt light is still on.' A snooty air stewardess told Jack.

'I will take my seat once I make sure my daughter is okay.' Jack answered the stewardess sternly and in a fatherly tone. Jack's choice of words caught Olivia's attention from the other side of the lavatory door. _'Did he just call me his daughter?' _She thought to herself before another round of sickness forced her to not to think about it.

'I'm sure she will be fine. Take your seat immediately.' The air stewardess ordered, not giving a toss about Olivia, who was violently vomiting on the other side of the bathroom door.

'I'm sorry but do you have a family?' Jack asked in a defensive tone.

'No. Why is that any of your concern?' The stewardess asked in a scathing tone.

'Well, when you do have a family, you'll realise that making sure your kids are okay is the only thing you really care about and how it feels when a bitchy air stewardess is telling you that you are not allowed to make sure that they are fine. ' Just then, the stewardess called the chief steward.

'What seems to be the problem here?' The chief steward asked.

'This gentleman is refusing to take his seat.' The air stewardess said in a malicious tone.

'No, I didn't refuse to take my seat. I said I would take my seat once I made sure my daughter was okay as she is violently vomiting in the lavatory.'

'Ellie, was there really any need to call on me? The gentleman is just making sure his kid is all right. Sir, make sure she is okay then take your seat.' The chief steward said, before dragging the stewardess away.

'Thank you.' Jack said to the chief steward. He had no thanks to give to the stewardess. 'Liv, are you alright?' Olivia then emerged from the toilet, chalk white and barely able to support her own weight. 'Honey, let's get you back to your seat.' Olivia merely nodded faintly, not having the energy to say or do anything else.

'Is she okay?' Karen asked in an extremely concerned tone, noticing that Jack was practically having to carry Olivia back to her seat. Jack simply shook his head. He had the feeling that Olivia was suffering from more than just travel sickness.

'Do you guys want to move along a seat so Olivia can sit at the aisle in case she needs to be sick again?' Jack said to Mason and Elliot, who did as they were asked. 'Try to get some sleep.' Jack said to Olivia as she virtually fell back onto the seat. Olivia didn't seem to acknowledge Jack's comment.

'Excuse me, is she okay?' The passenger in the seat in front of Jack asked.

'I'm sure she'll be fine.' Jack answered unconvincingly but quietly in the hope that Karen, who was frantically fidgeting, wouldn't hear. 'I think she must have picked up a bug or something.'

'Well, I hope she feels better soon. Where are you staying?' The passenger tried to start a conversation up with Jack to tried and make him forget his nerves.

'The Tropical Beach Resort. How long we stay there for will depend on how ill Olivia is. We might decide to take her back home.'

---

An hour more into the flight, Olivia was still either sleeping or passed out. The in-flight meals were being handed out. The news of Jack's confrontation with the air stewardess had spread quickly amongst the cabin crew, whom were disgusted at the air stewardess' attitude to the situation.

'Um, should I leave a meal for her?' Another stewardess asked.

'Wait a minute and I'll see.' Jack said. 'Liv.' Jack tried to wake her up. 'Liv, honey, do you feel like eating something?' Olivia shook her head slightly before going back to sleep. 'I wouldn't bother.' Jack told the stewardess.

---

The end of the flight finally arrived. Olivia had slept the whole time, except when she had to get up to be sick a few more times.

'Is it okay if we wait until everyone else is off to make it easier to get her awake?' Karen asked a passing steward.

'Yeah, that will be fine. I hope she feels better soon.'

'Yeah, so do we.'

**A/N: I am so sorry for long wait between updates but I've been on holiday! I hope you like it!**


	15. Chapter 15

Landing in Kingston airport and trying to find and get your suitcases off of the conveyer belt is a whole lot of fun, especially when there are four hundred other people trying to do the same thing and your trying to make sure Olivia, who seems to have taken a turn for the worse, is all right. Jack, Elliot and Mason were trying to find the five suitcases, while Karen, keeping a close eye on Olivia, who was lying along four airport chairs, sat on a chair a few metres away from the conveyer belt.

'One of you go check how Olivia is.' Jack ordered Elliot or Mason, whichever one felt like going over.

'I'll go.' Mason said. 'You went the last time.' He said to Elliot. 'Which was…' Mason looked at his watch. 'Ten minutes ago.' When Mason went over, Olivia was semi-awake. 'Hey Liv. How ya doing?'

'How the hell do you think?' Olivia answered groggily.

'I think you're not doing so good but I got sent over here.' Mason admitted.

'Can I go back to sleep before I throw up yet again?'

'Um…I suppose so. I need to go help with the suitcases again anyway. Hope ya feel better.'

'With any luck.' With that, Olivia immediately went back to sleep.

'Honey, you're burning up.' Karen said to a sleeping Olivia. 'You're really ill aren't you?' Karen said, somewhere in between asking her and merely stating a fact. Just then, Mason wandered over struggling to drag possibly the biggest of the five suitcases. Mason had assumed that the suitcase was Karen's because, well, she _always_ had the biggest suitcase.

'One suitcase down. Four more to come.' Mason said breathlessly. Dragging a suitcase, which clearly had a tag indicating it was heavy, was hard work, especially when you've run over your own toes about a hundred million times.

'Honey, will you stay here just now. I'll go and see if they need a hand over there.'

'Sure. I'll stay here and make sure my little sis is okay.' Mason said in reply.

'Mason?' Olivia, just awakening, said in a sleepy, raspy tone. 'I'm your non-identical twin. How can you call me your little sister?'

'Because as your brother, I'm supposed to make sure that no-one treats my sister like shit and make her feel better when she feels like shit. And your smaller than me.'

'That's sweet Mason. When do we get the hell out of this airport? I want to get some sleep.'

'If you want to get some sleep, then what the hell have you been doing for the last seven hours?'

'Very funny Mason. You know what I mean.' Olivia stood up. 'I wanna go down there.' She pointed to the conveyer belt.

'You sure?'

'Yeah. I'm bored up here.' Olivia didn't mention anything to Mason, but her chest felt very tight.

'Okay then. Don't blame me when you have to run a mile to the toilet throw up.' Mason cautioned.

'I won't.' Olivia struggled to walk and seemed to be breathing slightly heavier.

'Are you sure you're okay?' Mason asked, a hint of doubt in his voice.

'Yeah. I'm fine.' Olivia answered. Mason wasn't convinced, but he decided to let it slip.

'Liv honey, what are you doing up?' Karen asked when they reached the conveyer belt.

'I'm bored up there.' Olivia said weakly. She was finding it a struggle to talk. Not that she was going to let anyone know that. They'd just send her back up to the bench. The cold, lonely bench.

'I think another one of our suitcases is just coming around the corner.' Jack said, trying to grab the heavy suitcase.

'Honey, are you sure you're okay? You look worse than you did a few minutes ago and your temperature has risen since the last time I checked it.' Karen asked, alarmed that Olivia's condition seemed to be worsening. Olivia nodded. She found it too difficult to talk. Her chest had tightened even more and she was beginning to feel light-headed.

Olivia, are you su-' Jack was cut off by a loud beeping. The conveyer belt had broken down. 'You gotta be kidding me.'

All of the attention was on trying to figure out what happened to the conveyer belt when Olivia suddenly felt extremely worse. She couldn't breathe at all. The whole room was spinning. She tried to get somebody's attention, but either she couldn't speak or they weren't listening. She couldn't tell. She could hear her own panic in her head. Something…something was seriously wrong. With the only energy she had, she tugged at somebody's arm. She couldn't tell whose it was but it was definitely someone she knew. Amidst all the panic inside her own head, she vaguely recognised the jacket of the person whose arm she tugged. Then everything went black.

'What the-' Jack said, catching a collapsing Olivia. 'Somebody call for help.' Jack tried to stay calm, sure she'd only passed out and this was nothing to worry about.

'What the hell's happened? What's wrong with her?' Karen shrieked, close to hysterics.

'I think she's just passed out. That's all.' Jack said, trying to calm her down.

'Are you sure?' Karen asked, in the same tone as her last questions.

'No!' Jack said, his voice suddenly filled with panic.

'What do you mean no!' Karen yelled.

'She not breathing.' Jack said. 'For God sake SHE'S NOT BREATHING!'

**A/N: Hope you all enjoy. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. And Thanks to Pam who helped me so much with this chapter. You're the best honey!**


	16. Chapter 16

'She's not breathing.' Jack said. 'For God sake SHE'S NOT BREATHING!' This sent Karen into a fit of hysterics and caused a dozen or so people near them at the conveyer belt to turn around. Well, when you hear somebody scream 'She's not breathing' at the top of their lungs and somebody else (who has an incredible noticeable high-pitched) screaming hysterically, you usually do turn around to see what the hell the problem is, don't you?

'Go call 911 and find help!' Jack ordered Mason and Elliot, who were just as scared shitless as anybody else.

'But we're in Jamaica! 911 isn't the emergency number.' Elliot said.

'THEN GO FIND SOMEONE AND GET SOME FREAKING HELP!' Jack hadn't meant to yell at him, but when your panicking and one of your kids is lying on the airport floor not breathing, the slightest thing causes you to snap.

'I'll go that way. You got the other way.' Mason said quickly and almost incoherently. This was the most terrifying thing he could ever think he had witnessed. It's horrible the feeling you get, thinking that your sister, your twin sister, is dying right of you.

'Okay. Good luck.' With that, Mason and Elliot sprinted in opposite directions, trying to find any help they could.

---

Why is it you feel like a failure, when what you really need is to feel like you've done all you possibly can?

Mason ran faster than he ever had before, trying to find someone, anyone, who would know what to do. _Where are airport staff when you need them,_ Mason thought. They were certainly scarce at this time of night. And why are airport corridors so freaking long anyway? Mason had ran so far that he could hardly hear any commotion anymore, but in that distance he hadn't found any help. He wasn't even sure now that he'd even be able to find his way back. _Surely, Elliot must be having more luck._ A small part of his mind told him to go back. That he would never find help. But something larger told him not to give up, just in case Elliot wasn't having any better luck. Just in case of what might end up.

Mason thought over all the good times he and Olivia had had when they were kids. Four years old in Central Park, playing their favourite game of the time, 'Steal and Hide Dad's Chocolate'. Five years old, playing the practical joke on Will and Grace where you swap the sugar for the salt. Somehow, Grace didn't seem to notice. Will did. But Grace is a pig, isn't she? Six years old, being picked to play the brother and sister in their class' production of Mary Poppins. Nine years old and telling that bitch Lorraine where to stick her chores. Boy, she didn't see that one coming. Ten years old, going to see 'The Lion King' on Broadway with Will, Grace, Elliot, Jack and Karen. Twelve years old, sending Elliot that Valentines card, making him believe Nancy had sent it. God, who knew he was so gullible. Mason hadn't been convinced, saying that Elliot would be able to recognise Olivia's handwriting, but he didn't. Mason had been wrong. Olivia had been right. _As always, _he thought. Fourteen years old, singing and dancing on the way to JFK airport, ready to go on their first holiday in years. But that was just this morning.

Mason ran and ran until he reached the Passport Control, knowing he couldn't go any further. But if he was at Passport Control, there would be somebody to help, right? Wrong. The last fight of the night had already gone through Passport Control. No one was there.

'Shit.'

Now all Mason could think about were the bad times he and Olivia had had when they were kids, and all the time he had let his sister down, as insignificant they may have been. Seven years old, letting her take them blame for the mud on the new carpet. Eight years old, Dad going to prison. Nine years old, Dad and Karen divorcing. Nine years old still, not telling her that he already knew Dad was having an affair. She was mad when she found out. Barely eleven years old, Dad dying. Twelve years old, missing her first ballet performance after the death of Dad. He really let her down then. He didn't think he could regret anything more. Until now.

Fourteen years old, not been able to find her help when she needed it most. He really had let her down this time.

No, Mason hadn't just let Olivia down this time.

He'd failed his baby sister.

---

Why is it that you feel like you've caused something when, really, you had no control over it?

'What the hell is going to happen to her?' Karen wept, while some other person tried to calm her down and comfort her. She had no idea who this person was, but it wasn't who she wanted it to be. He was trying to help their daughter. She had never felt so scared or helpless. Her little girl was collapsed on the dirty, cold airport floor and there was nothing she could to help. All she could do was cry, panic, hope Olivia would be all right. In other words, pray that Olivia wouldn't die right in front of her; with nothing she could do to stop it. But Olivia couldn't die. She was too young to. Wasn't she? Mind you, she'd thought that about other people before, and where did they end up? Dead. Was it some sort of curse she had? Was her little girl the next victim?

Karen's mind raced over everything she thought she had done to cause this, and all the things she regretted about Olivia's, and indeed Mason's, childhood. All the things she'd wished she done with them. All the things she wished she'd done for them. How she wished they'd been one big happy family. Maybe, hopefully, one day they would be.

---

Why is it that you never understand what someone meant at a certain time until that thing is almost snatched away?

After what felt like an eternity of running, Elliot eventually reached the first information desk in the arrivals area of Kingston Airport. There were a few people waiting in a queue but Olivia didn't have any time to waste.

'You've got to help. My sister's collapsed at baggage claim and she's not breathing!' Elliot yelled at the person behind the desk. The people Elliot had cut in front of had been about to tell him to get to the back of the queue and wait like everybody else, but hearing what he had just said, it was obvious he, and his sister, whoever she may be, needed to get to the front of the line quickly.

'The emergency number is 119.' The person behind the desk said in an uninterested manner, while passing Elliot the phone.

Elliot practically battered the buttons on the phone. 'My sister needs an ambulance because she's collapsed and stopped breathing in the airport.' For some reason, Elliot had a flashback of a Moral Studies class a while back, where neither he nor Mason had been quite sure at the time who Olivia had been talking about.

'_There's these two people I know,' she said, 'and they would be so perfect for each other. Everybody knows it but they just don't say it. They've both got kids who get along so well, but as much as you know it is never going to happen, you really want the two adults to get together and for them all to be one big happy family, because you know that is what they'd be. One big happy family.'_

_Elliot and Mason looked at each other. 'Who the hell is she talking about?' Mason asked._

'_I have no idea.' Elliot answered._

It had taken Elliot a year and a half to figure out whom Olivia had been talking about.

Jack and Karen.

Mum and Dad.

And how was she to know how wrong she was to be. Maybe they would eventually be one big happy family.

Maybe they already were.

Maybe, somehow, they always had been.

---

Why is it your mind fills with memories the one time you need your mind to be clear?

'_Liv, I bet you can't climb that tree.' Elliot said._

'_I bet I can!' Olivia protested._

'_Go then.' Mason said._

'_Go then what?' Olivia asked nervously. She knew she couldn't climb the tree, but she wasn't going let the stink boys no that._

'_Climb the tree.' Elliot and Mason said simultaneously. _

'_O…kay.' Olivia proceeded to the death climb._

_The tree that she was climbing wasn't really that big, but everything seems bigger when your only four feet tall. It was not at all safe for climbing. The branches were thin and flimsy and the trunk wasn't much stronger. The tree was shaking more and more the closer to the top Olivia got, and was **very **close to the top._

'_Ha ha! See I told you I could get to the top!' Olivia proclaimed. 'Just one question. How do I get back down?'_

'_Duh, climb back down.' It was so obvious to Elliot._

'_Um, I'm not sure this is safe.' Olivia said nervously. Elliot and Mason looked a long, long way down. 'I'm stuck up here thanks to you two!'_

'_No, you're not. Just climb down.' Mason said. 'You won't fall! Just get down before we get into big big trouble.'_

'_Okay. Tell me if I'm going to fall.' Olivia said apprehensively. A few seconds later, Olivia did fall out the tree. What did Elliot and Mason not do? Tell her she was going to fall._

'_Olivia, are you okay?' Mason said worriedly and quickly._

'_NO!' Olivia screamed. She landed in an awkward position, leaning on her right elbow, which had almost instantly swollen._

'_We should go get help. I'll go that way to get my mummy and you go that way to get your daddy.' Mason said quickly. 'But wait, one of us will have to stay with Liv and my mummy's at work.'_

'_I'll go get my daddy.' Elliot said, before running in the direction of 155 Riverside Drive. It only took Elliot a matter of seconds to run from the small park around the corner to Riverside Drive. He had never run as fast as he had there in any school sports day. Once the elevator reached the ninth floor, Elliot shot out the door and into his daddy's apartment._

'_Daddy, Olivia fell out of a tree and hurt herself!' Elliot shouted, just inside the door._

'_Where is she?' Jack said, grabbing his old-fashioned mobile phone and running out the door with Elliot. He didn't ask what Olivia had been doing climbing a tree. There would be time for Karen to have that discussion with her later, once they knew she was okay. A few seconds later Elliot and Jack were at the tree that Olivia had fallen out of._

'_It hurts!' Olivia sobbed._

'_I know. Where does it hurt the most?' Jack asked sympathetically._

'_My elbow.'_

'_Can you bend it?' Jack asked. Olivia shook her head. 'You know what? I think you're gonna have to going to the hospital. I think you've broken you're elbow. I'll call your mummy, and tell her to meet us at the hospital, okay.' Jack said, digging hic phone from his pocket and calling Karen. He got her voicemail._

'_Karen, It's Jack. Olivia fell out of a tree and I think she's broken her arm. She needs to go to the hospital. Call me as soon as you get this message.'_

'_Hey Liv, I'm sorry we made you climb that tree.' Mason said, regret filling his voice._

'_It's okay. I shouldn't have climbed the tree.' Olivia said, still sobbing from the pain._

'_No but, I'm your brother. I shouldn't have let you climb it, let alone made you.' Mason looked down at his feet the entire time he was talking._

_A couple of metres away from where the kids were, Jack was still trying to get a hold of Karen, and not having much luck. Her mobile phone was turned off, there was no answer at the house and there was no point trying to get in touch Olivia and Mason's dad, since he was out of the country on business. The last place to try was Grace's office, where Karen -using this term loosely- worked._

'_Grace Adler Designs.' Grace Adler answered the phone._

'_Hey Grace. It's Jack. Is Karen there?'_

'_No. She went to the fabric store to attempt to get the right order.' Grace said sarcastically._

'_Damn!' With that, Jack hung up the phone, leaving Grace on the other end wondering what the hell was going on. 'Look, I can't get a hold of Karen, so I'm just going to have to take you to the hospital myself.' Jack had expected to hear Olivia say something along the lines of **'I want my mummy'** and was surprised when that wasn't what he heard. 'Do you want me to carry you to the car?' Olivia nodded. 'All right then. Come hear you ninny.'_

_A couple of hours later at the hospital, Olivia was sitting in the plastering room, getting a cast on her arm. She had broken her elbow in the fall. Through the window in the door, Jack noticed Karen enter the children's ward of the hospital._

'_I'll be back in a few minutes. You three behave yourselves!' Jack left the room and walked over to where Karen was standing. 'Hey.'_

'_Where is she? Is she alright?' Karen asked frantically. 'The battery in my phone died and –'_

'_Hey, she's fine. She just broke her elbow and she needs to get a cast on her arm for a few weeks. That's all.'_

'_Thank god.' Karen said, crying. 'I was so worried.'_

'_Hey. No need to cry. She's fine.' Jack said hugging Karen._

'_What was she doing in a tree anyway?' Karen asked, still in Jack's embrace._

'_I think it went something like Elliot ad Mason dared her that she couldn't climb the tree or something like that.'_

'_What?' Karen shook her head. 'Kids.'_

_Back in the plaster room, the nurse was almost finished Olivia's cast. 'Is that your mummy and daddy out there?'_

'_Uh-huh.' All three kids answered at the same time. Being kids and being naïve, they assumed the nurse meant 'Is that Olivia and Mason's mummy and is that Elliot's daddy' when what she really meant was 'Are they a couple?' But being kids and being naïve, how were they supposed to know that?_

'I couldn't get any help! I couldn't find a single person to help.' Mason sobbed, out of breath, running back along from Passport Control.

'The ambulance is going to be hear in ten minutes.' Elliot said, also out of breath, running back from the opposite direction.

Out of breath. How freaking ironic.

'What, ten minutes?' Karen wailed. 'She might not have that freaking long. She's already not been breathing for ten minutes!'

'Karen, calm down. It's not going to do Olivia or anybody any good.' Jack tried to calm her, which was not easy when he was scared. Just hiding it better than she was. He felt he needed to be the stronger one out of the two. That _was_ the man's job, wasn't it? To stay calm in difficult situations? 'Oh my god.'

'Oh my god? What do you mean 'Oh My God?' Karen shrieked.

'I think she's getting worse. Her lips have gone blue.'

At that moment, Karen ran as far as she could before throwing up, Jack left Olivia lying on the floor for the first time since she collapsed and Elliot and Mason looked at each other, both nearly in tear at what was happening, and thought to themselves _'What the hell is going to happen?'_

---

When the airport was empty, and the security and cleaning staff were the only people to be found, five suitcases remained in the conveyer belt area. Two to be found at different spots near the conveyer belt, three still going round on the conveyer belt. When security went to check the bags, they noticed that all five suitcases had the same thing written on the tags.

'_McFarland. New York City.'_

**A/N: I know! I'm evil I'm not so sure about this chapter. Is it a bit long and repetitive? Let me know please. Anyhooslebees, enjoy! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! xx**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Okay, before I start, can I just let you know that my knowledge of the medical world…stinks. I have none at all. My cousin probably has more medical knowledge than me and he's four years old! I apologise for any mistakes that may be in here! And please tell me if you think the lyrics don't fit. I'm not 100 percent sure myself, but I thought I'd try them anyway.**

_Hope fades,  
Into the world of night.  
Through shadows falling,  
Out of memory and time_

_-Annie Lennox, Into The West-_

'Fourteen year old female.' The ambulance driver said over his radio to the hospital. 'Stopped breathing about seventeen minutes ago. Not looking good.'

It was cramped with seven people in a small ambulance. Karen, Jack, Mason and Elliot were squashed onto a small and uncomfortable bench, watching worriedly what the other paramedic was doing to help Olivia. Not being medically trained, nobody was exactly sure what the paramedic was actually doing. Either that, or they were all too scared to take any of it in. Each one of them was in their own little world, yet, strangely, their own worlds were centred around the same thing.

'Temperature's dropping.' The paramedic shouted.

---

'_Oh, it's another one of those picnics we have every so often. We all go down to Central Park and munch some food. Or, in Grace's case, munch a lot of food.' Olivia told a few of her friends._

'_By the way, do you realise that this is going to be the first picnic-y thing since Jack and Karen got together?' Elliot asked._

_Olivia thought for a second. 'I do now.'_

'_I can't believe we hadn't even thought of that.' Mason said._

'_Yeah, we don't seem to think about it anymore. It's as if that's the way it's always been. Like the way we've always thought of Will and Grace as Will and Grace rather than Will being one person and Grace being another person.' Elliot explained._

'_But… we've always thought of Jack and Karen as Jack and Karen.' Mason said._

'_Yeah, but now we think of them as Jack **and **Karen.' Olivia said._

'_Liv, that doesn't make any sense.' Mason said._

'_Elliot, did that make sense to you?' Olivia asked sarcastically._

'_Strangely enough it did.' Elliot laughed._

'_But… what?' Mason said._

'_Let me know when you work it out.' Olivia laughed._

---

Walking into the hospital, nobody paid attention to all of the medical mumbo-jumbo that the paramedic told whoever it was that met them at the door. All they knew, all they needed to know was that the paramedic had managed to get Olivia to start breathing again but that she was seriously ill. Her pulse was weak and her breathing was shallow, but at least she was breathing. _That has to be a good sign, _Mason thought to himself. Mind you, what knowledge did he have about… anything that was going on?

'We're going to need you to take a seat out here. Only hospital staff can go in there.' A hospital assistant said, when Karen, Jack Mason and Elliot attempted to enter the room that the paramedic had taken Olivia into.

'But they've just taken her in there.' A rather hysterical Karen said.

'I'm sorry but you can't go in there. Somebody will tell you if anything happens.'

'So… we're supposed to sit out here not knowing what's happening to our little girl. And… they,' Karen pointed to Mason and Elliot,' are supposed to sit out here worrying about what's happening to their sister. Is that fair?'

'It's hospital policy.'

'So…. would… anyone… any…' Karen was crying so much she couldn't form a sentence.

'Kare, calm down. They will let us know once she's okay.' Jack said, trying to console her.

'Who knew this would be the first big thing we did as a _family._' Mason said to Elliot quietly.

'Let's just hope the second thing isn't going to Olivia's funeral.' Elliot replied.

'Don't say that because the opposite of what you say always happens. What or whoever controls life and death will translate your isn't as is.' Mason said.

'Mason, that's crap. That has noth-'

'That's what always happens. Always does. That's what happened with my dad. I clearly remember telling Olivia that dad wouldn't die. And what happened that night? He died. And now Liv's the one…'

'Shut up.' Elliot said blandly.

---

'_So, usual spot then' Grace asked, carrying a picnic basket and a rug._

'_Duh.' Elliot said. 'Come on, we've been sitting at the same spot for like…fourteen years.' It was at this point that Mason and Olivia noticed that Grace was carrying the picnic basket._

'_Um…Grace?' Olivia began._

'_Yeah?'_

'_Did you make the picnic?' Mason ended Olivia's question._

'_Relax. Will cooked everything.' Grace said sarcastically._

'_Thank god.' All three kids said in unison._

'_Where is Will anyway?' Elliot asked._

'_He's making a call. Where are Jack and Karen?' _

'_We've learned never to ask that question.' Olivia said._

'_Asking that question sets you on the way to therapy.' Elliot said._

'_Asking that question has seriously screwed me up for life.' Mason continued._

'_Weren't you already screwed up for life with them as your parents in the first place?' Grace sarcastically said. Mason nodded. A few minutes later Will joined them._

'_Hey guys. Where are Jack and Karen?'_

'_You just missed the explanation as to why we do not ask that question.' Grace said._

'_Enough said. I think I got it from that.' Will sat down. _

---

An hour later, nobody had been out to tell them was going on with Olivia. Nobody was sure whether to take that as a good or bad sign. If nobody had been out to talk to them then that meant she was still… But was nobody out to talk to them because they were too busy trying to…

'This has been a long hour.' Mason said.

'Is that all it has been?' Elliot asked. 'What time is it?'

'Half past one in the morning.' Mason answered tiredly. 'Do you think she's okay?'

'I thought we'd learned not to ask that question.' Elliot said.

At least Mason and Elliot were managing to keep some form of conversation going, which was more than could be said for Jack and Karen. Jack was staring into space while Karen nervously paced around the waiting room. Karen had been sobbing for an hour straight, which was hardly surprising. What was surprising, or at least to Elliot and Mason, was so had Jack. Elliot and Mason had expected him to be comforting Karen, telling her everything would be all right but no. He was just as nervous as she was, if not more so. Maybe, just like their relationship, over the last few months, the rulebooks had changed.

'Wanna go find something to eat?' Mason asked Elliot.

'Yeah.' Elliot turned in the direction Karen and Jack were. 'Do want us to bring you something back if we find food?' Elliot's question was not even acknowledged. 'Let's go.'

---

'_It's been well over an hour and they're not here yet.' Will stated. 'Don't you think we should find out where they are?'_

'_No.' Olivia said._

'_But they know we are all supposed to meet here.' Will continued._

'_We know,' Elliot said, 'but I wouldn't go looking for them.'_

'_But surely –' _

'_No.' Elliot said._

_  
'Come on, they wouldn't-'_

'_Oh but they would.' Mason said._

'_Will, you know as well as any of us what Jack and Karen were like **before** they were dating.' Grace began. 'Well, multiply that by a thousand and you will come out with what they are like now.'_

'_She has a point.' Jack said as he and Karen arrived from around the corner._

'_Why are you guys so late?' Grace asked._

'_Um, Grace?' Mason began._

'_Yeah?'_

'_You know how we spoke earlier about those questions that we don't ask?' Elliot continued._

'_Yeah.'_

'_Well, that's one of them.' Olivia concluded. 'Anyway, can we eat yet? I'm starving. I didn't have any breakfast this morning.'_

'_Rip into the food.' Will announced._

'_Yay! Are there any peanuts?' Olivia asked._

_---_

'Her heart stopped while we were treating her.' The doctor told. ' We did manage to her heart started again, but she is very weak. She's connected to a life support machine…'

They all stopped listening after that. This was serious. Too serious. How could Olivia be connected up to a _life support machine_?

'We need to run some tests to see if she has sustained any organ damage due to the amount of time she wasn't breathing. She is in a life threatening condition. If she _does _survive there is a very high chance of her being left disabled.'

The emphasis on the 'does' said it all. There was more chance of her dying than of her not. But… that couldn't be right. How could Olivia, a happy, seemingly healthy fourteen year old with her whole life ahead of her, be closer to the Pearly Gates than… this just wasn't fair. Where was the justice?

'You can go in to see her at anytime now.' The doctor walked away before turning round again. 'It might be a good idea to say your goodbyes and contact any friends or relatives who would wish to do the same.' The doctor concluded, before going, Mason assumed, to help other patients.

Karen collapsed into a fit of hysteria; Jack trying to catch her before she hit the cold floor. Mason couldn't help laughing in his head at the resemblance to the thing that got them all here in the first place. But the laughter quickly translated to tears falling down his cheeks when he realised the thing that brought them there might be the thing that changed everything forever.

Elliot sobbed at the thought of losing his best friend. But in the last few weeks, he'd started to think of her less as his best friend and more as his sister. He found this out when in a Spanish essay about families he'd written:_ Yo tengo uno hermano, Mason, y una hermana, Olivia. _

It took him three re-writes to realise what he'd written. _I have one brother, Mason, and one sister, Olivia. _He'd written it without even thinking about it. And he'd re-read it without noticing until the teacher pointed it out. When Elliot discovered that both Mason and Olivia had written the same thing, they'd all laughed._ Next Spanish essay I'll only be writing: _Yo tengo uno hermano. _End of sentence._ Elliot thought.

---

'_Can I go get ice cream?' Elliot asked._

'_Sure.' Jack and Karen answered simultaneously._

'_Get us some ice cream too please!' Grace said on behalf of everyone else._

'_I'm going too.' Olivia said, standing up_

'_Be careful.' Jack shouted as Olivia and Elliot walked the short distance to the ice cream stand._

'_Since when were we ever told to be careful?' Olivia asked._

'_I don't know. That's weird' Elliot said. _

_They had arrived at the unexpectedly long ice cream stand queue. Elliot thought he recognised the person in front of them by he wasn't wholly sure that he did, until the person in front turned around._

'_Hey Elliot.' The boy said._

'_Hi Jason.' Elliot replied._

'_Who the hell is this?' Olivia whispered._

'_Liv, this is Jason from the soccer team. Jason, this is my sister Olivia.' Elliot handled the introductions. 'Jason just joined the soccer team.'_

'_Really?' Olivia said in such a fake tone, or at least Elliot knew it was a fake tone._

'_I just moved here from LA.' Jason explained._

'_So that's why I hadn't heard of you before.' Olivia joked._

_They continued to have a conversation until they reached the front of the line. Elliot was surprised when Olivia said the list of ice creams that everybody would be having without even thinking about it._

'_Why do you need so many ice creams?' Jason asked Elliot._

'_We're here with our weird and dysfunctional family.' Elliot answered. 'Mum, Dad, brother Mason, Aunt Grace and Aunt Will.'_

'_One big happy family.' Olivia added, struggling to carry five ice creams. 'Give me a hand here.'_

_---_

'We should go find a phone.' Elliot said.

'Why?' Mason asked. 'It's not like we've got any 'relatives' we can phone. We don't have any family.'

'We do.' Elliot said. 'Always have.'

'Who exactly?' Mason asked acerbically.

'Our weird and highly dysfunctional family consists of me, you, Olivia, Mum, Dad, Aunt Grace and Aunt Will.'

Mason laughed at Elliot calling Will 'Aunt'. He didn't seem to notice what he had called Jack and Karen. 'You're right. Our one big happy family deserves to all be together.' Mason said. ' Because it might be the last time.'

**A/N: Okay, I'm not sure how good this chapter is. And I'm sorry for the long wait. I was really struggling with this one. Big thanks goes to Linds and Pam who helped me so much! Love ya both! x**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Don't you just hate it when your PC crashes? My PC has decided to hate me. First, my floppy disk with all my fics on it, including ones I had yet to post onto the site, decides to un-format itself so I've lost everything that was on that disk and then my PC totally crashed on me… I hate technology. Lol. I'm hoping it's not going to crash on me anymore. Fingers crossed! Anyway, enjoy!**

Two in the morning is the time you'd least expect a phone call. Will would say 'A phone call late at night is either Jack, Karen, the kids or something's wrong.' He could take his pick this time.

'Hello?' Will's voice was low and groggy.

'It's Mason.'

'Mason, I don't know what time it is where you are, but it's two in the morning here. What's up?'

Will had not been prepared, on any level, for the answer that followed. He had expected Mason to answer with something along the lines of _'Didn't realise what time it was there. We'll all phone you later.' _It really knocks the wind out of you being told that your fourteen year old niece, or as good as, is on a life support machine.

'Where are you?' Had they even made it out of New York?

'We're in Jamaica.' Mason explained.

'Grace and I will be down there as we can. Call if anything happens.' Will hung up the phone, and dialled another number. 'Hello, Information?' Will was unaware of the volume he was speaking in, and also unaware that he had woken up Grace. 'I need to be put through to the American Airlines reservation desk at JFK airport. Thank you.' Will doubted that there would even be anyone at the reservation desk at this time, but he was sure going to check. To his surprise:

'Hello, American Airlines reservation desk. How can I help?'

'I need two tickets for the next available flight to Kingston, Jamaica. I don't care if you have to put us in first class. I don't care if the two seats are separate from each other, just get us two tickets down there.' Will didn't know that he was scaring the crap out of the woman on the other end of the phone, who was desperately searching on her computer for the next available flight, or Grace, who had been listening from her bedroom door and wondering what the hell was going on.

'We don't appear to have any available flights for the next two weeks. I'm sorry. Why do you need a flight down so urgently? If you have a valid enough reason I can try to put you on standby in case a couple of seats become available.'

'Our niece has taken seriously ill down there and she's been put on a life support machine. We need to get down there as soon as we can.' Will almost yelled down the phone.

Grace could have sworn she'd felt the colour draining from her face when Will had said that. She instantly went back into her room and found a bag, any bag, and threw a few things in it. A few set of clothes. Hairbrush. The main things she would need.

'Grace?' Will entered Grace's room in a panicked state.

'I heard you. When do we have to be at the airport?' Grace said in a very shaky tone.

'The next flight isn't until seven thirty this morning. We aren't even guaranteed to get on that flight. We just have to be at the airport by five thirty and hope for the best.' Will informed Grace. 'About the whole thing.'

'I'm going to get ready. No point going back to sleep. Not that either of us _would_ sleep.' Grace said, heading for the bathroom. 'Shout me if something…anything happens.'

Grace shut the bathroom door, and Will went to pack a bag. The longest five hours just began.

---

'I'm Will Truman. I phoned earlier about the seven thirty flight to Kingston. We were put on standby.' Will said to the reservation desk assistant.

'Ah yes…' The woman said, finding the name on the computer. Will Truman and Grace Adler? You're in luck.'

'I wouldn't quite say that.' Grace snapped.

'There have been a couple of cancellations. You are booked onto the flight.'

'How much is that?' Will didn't really care but he just wanted to know to save any panic when the statement came in. If by that time he cared…

'Hmm… that's odd.' The woman said.

'What is?'

'The computer is saying that the flight is free of charge. I can't charge you for this flight.' The desk assistant printed off two tickets. 'Go to check in desk four. Enjoy your trip.' The woman said with a manic grin.

'I highly doubt that.' Will sighed, not noticing that Grace was already half way to the check in desk.

---

Like the flight Jack, Karen, Mason Elliot and Olivia had been on; Will and Grace's flight was delayed. By six hours compared to one. Grace, under normal circumstances, would have been taking advantage of the extra time to shop in Duty Free. But these were not normal circumstances. Besides the fact she'd only had two hours sleep and she was too tired to shop, she was too worried.

'_Grace, how much alcohol do you think you're gonna need for Jack's birthday party? There's only going to be five of you at the most.' Olivia said sarcastically._

'_Five?' Grace questioned._

'_Yeah. You, Will, Jack, Karen and the man Jack thinks he's going to spend the rest of his life with, if the rest of his life means two weeks at the most.' Olivia answered. 'And even with Karen there, I think you're going to have too much. And that's saying something.' _

'_Aren't you, Elliot and Mason going to be there?' _

'_Yeah but we ain't going to be drinking alcohol!' Olivia said mockingly._

'_Why not?' Grace harmlessly asked._

'_Were you dropped on your head as a baby?'_

'_Oh right… you're not twenty-one yet are you?' Grace asked._

'_No, I've got a good seven years until I'm twenty-one.'_

Grace thought back to the day, or, at least, what she could remember of Jack's birthday party. She and Olivia had gone to the grocery store to get some party supplies (I.E. booze and the usual party food). Now Olivia's statement seemed to carry a wicked irony. Did Olivia actually have the 'good seven years' until she was twenty-one?

'I'm gonna get some coffee. Do you want anything?' Grace asked Will, standing up.

'Just a coffee. Ask if they can add extra caffeine.' Will half-heartedly joked.

'This is an announcement for all passengers travelling on the seven thirty American Airlines flight to Kingston, Jamaica. This flight has been delayed a further hour. American Airlines apologises for the delay and the inconvenience this may cause.'

'Great.' Will sarcastically said to himself. 'Just great.'

---

'_So, will we go on the water?' Will asked. _

'_Yeah!' All three five year olds yelled._

_Will and Grace had taken Elliot, Mason and Olivia to Florida for a week. The original plan had been for Jack and Karen to be taking the kids, but other things had came up so Will and Grace had volunteered to take them instead. Not that they minded…_

'_Come on then.' Grace said, taking the little hands of Mason and Elliot, while Will took one of Olivia's little hands. All three ran to join the queue of the water ride._

_A half an hour later, after they'd queued, the ride ended. All three kids scrambled to get off the ride. Will and Grace had been right behind them, until they got separated by other people also getting off the ride._

'_Wait for us when you get off the ride!' Grace yelled, in the slim hope that they would hear her. They were smart kids; they would probably wait anyway. It just eased Grace's conscience to tell them._

_Will tried his hardest to keep an eye on them, but they were too small to be seen amongst the crowd. **'Something better not happen to them' **Will thought to himself._

_After what was an agonising few minutes, Will and Grace eventually got off the rid. Olivia, Mason and Elliot were nowhere to be seen. _

'_Kids? Where are you?' Will shouted, while Grace looked around frantically._

_No response._

'_Kids? Are you there?' Will tried again. Grace's searching was becoming more panicked._

_Still no response._

'_You better answer me, or you are in** big** trouble.' Will didn't think that they would have been playing a practical joke. They just weren't like that. These kids were sensible._

_They still didn't respond. If they were doing this to frighten Will and Grace, they were doing a bloody good job. _

'_Will, I don't think they're playing a joke. Something's happened to them!' Grace said, nearly sobbing. _

'_I'll go and find a security guard or something. You stay here in case they turn up.' With that, Will ran off to find the first source of help he could, find while Grace stood there, in the hope that Mason, Elliot and Olivia would suddenly appear out of nowhere._

_---_

_Elsewhere in the theme park, the kids had been wandering, hand in hand, around the theme park trying to find Will and Grace._

'_Excuse me?' Mason tugged to a security guard's jacket._

'_How can I help you kids?'_

'_We've lost out aunt and uncle.' Mason said._

'_Are you Elliot, Mason and Olivia?' The security guard asked. All three kids nodded._

'_Your aunt and uncle have been going crazy worrying about you three. Would you like me to take you back to them?'_

_All three kids nodded._

_---_

_An hour and a half later after they first disappeared and Elliot, Mason and Olivia hadn't been found yet. Will and Grace were growing increasingly worried. Will felt as if he had to do again what he always did when there was any kind of situation: be the calm, rationally thinking one. Not like Grace. Grace was visibly panicking, nervously passing the room they'd been told to wait in while biting her nails._

'_Grace, do you have to bite your nails? It's disgusting.' Will said, clearly trying to hide the fear in his voice._

'_Jack and Karen are gonna kill us. They're actually going to kill us. We've lost their kids for God sakes!' Grace yelled._

'_They won't…I mean, the kids will be…just stop biting your nails!' Will shouted._

'_Look who I found wandering around.' The security guard said, opening the door. Olivia, Elliot and Mason walked in after the security guard. _

'_Thank God.' Grace said, hugging all three of them at the same time. 'What happened to you three?'_

'_We got lost in the crowd and we couldn't find you.' Olivia sobbed._

'_Thank goodness somebody found you because you do realise that your mum and dad would have killed us.' Will joked._

_---_

Will thought back to the day when Olivia, Mason and Elliot had disappeared in Disneyland, and how slowly the time they were missing seemed to pass. There was only one occasion when time seemed to pass slower.

Right now.

'Grace, remember when Elliot, Mason and Olivia disappeared in Disneyland, do you realise that we'd been referring to them as Karen _and_ Jack's kids?'

'I hadn't until you just said it.' Grace said, handing Will a hot cup of coffee.

'This is an announcement for all passengers travelling on the seven thirty American Airlines flight to Kingston, Jamaica. This flight has been delayed a further two hours. American Airlines apologises for the delay and the inconvenience this may cause.'

'Will?' Grace asked.

'Yeah?'

'Do you think all this waiting is a bad omen?'

**A/N: Hope you enjoy! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! And special thanks to Pam x. See, I didn't make you wait as long! And my PC crashed on me again...**


	19. Chapter 19

__

_And you ask me what I want this year  
And I try to make this kind and clear  
Just the chance that maybe we'll find better days… _

_Cause tonight's the night the world begins again _

_-Better Days, Goo Goo Dolls-_

Happy New Year.

No chance. Would you call sitting around a hospital worrying 'happy'?

Will and Grace had eventually made it to Jamaica twelve hours later than expected. By the time they eventually got out of the airport, they were another hour and a half late, and it was pitch black outside.

You see, the thing a lot of people don't know, or don't seem to realise about the Caribbean is that night falls early. The day seems to end prematurely. And when the sun sets, it seems to just fall out of the sky. Within a blink of an eye the transition from day to night occurs. One minute it's day. The next, it's night. One minute you're breathing. The next… you're not and the time seems to be ending prematurely.

---

Kingston Hospital was decorated with seasonal lights and tinsel. The hospital seemed cheerier than at any other time of the year. The doctors, nurses and other miscellaneous staff wore Santa hats and tinsel around their name badges. Christmas songs played, even though it was technically after Christmas. The mood in the hospital was so joyous it was almost infectious.

_Almost_ infectious.

There was one group in particular that the Christmas cheer didn't spread to. The group seemed to be unconscious to the time of year. Well, maybe that was because one of them _was_ unconscious.

---

'What do you want to eat, Will?' Grace asked. Will and Grace had decided to _take a lunch break_. The hospital cafeteria was packed. Many people, most of them visitors, had decided to sample what the cafeteria staff were calling 'The New Year Special Dinner', which, really, was just another way of saying 'all the leftover crap from the rest of the year.' Or at least that how it sounded when your niece was unconscious.

'Just get me whatever you're getting and I'll go find us seats.' Will replied. Will had a quick squint round the café and it was obvious that there were no free tables. Will approached two people who were sitting at a four person table 'Say, you two look about as miserable as I am. Mind if my friend and I share your table?'

'Go ahead.' The man answered.

'So, do you mind if I ask why you two are so gloomy?' Will tried to start up some form of conversation, just as Grace found the table and sat down.

'My stepfather just had a heart attack and he's in a pretty bad way.' The man answered again. 'What about you? Why are you guys here on New Year's Eve?'

'Our best friends' fourteen-year-old daughter collapsed in the airport and is now in a coma.' Will answered.

'We flew down from New York to sort of, you know, help in any way but I don't know how much help we've really been.' Grace added.

'Wow, you flew down here for them. They have pretty great best friends.'

'They're more like family. Their kids refer to us as aunt and… well, aunt.' Grace half-heatedly joked.

'Funny, Grace.' Will sarcastically acknowledged Grace's joke.

'So, how are your friends?'

'Truthfully, they're a mess. Jack and Karen are doing what the always do and try to create the impression that they're both holding up well but they're just not.' Grace told.

'Elliot and Mason, their other kids, are holding up okay but they're still worried sick.' Will continued.

'Which is understandable.' The man said.

'We keep trying to tell them all that we're here to help but they don't seem to be taking our help.' Will said.

'Listen, we better go and see how my stepfather's doing. Maybe we'll see you around.' The man said while escorting a woman, presumably his wife, out of the cafeteria.

'You know, maybe they've not taken our help, because it's not really our place to help.' Grace said.

'What do you mean?' Will said.

'Maybe they just need to help each other through this as a-'

'As a family.' Will cut Grace off. 'You know, I think you're right. That's something I never thought I'd say!' Will laughed.

'I don't think it was ever outside the realm of possibility.' Grace announced.

'Again, as much as I hate to admit it, I think you're right.'

'I'm always right.' Grace said.

---

There were just two hours left of the year. It weird how, at the end of those two hours, you know that the year is over and it's never going to be that year again.

The same goes for life. If it ends, it never comes back again.

---

At eleven-thirty on the 31st of December, with only thirty minutes of the current year, sitting in the bleak, quiet hospital room, Grace was the one to start up a conversation.

'What's your New Year's resolution this year?' Grace asked whoever would be the first one to answer.

'I have decided that I am going to do more charity work.' Will said after a few minutes of thinking.

'No. You used that one last year. You're not getting to use it twice!' Grace said.

'Why not?' Will questioned.

'Honey, I think Grace wants to use that one.' Karen half-heartedly joked.

'Grace, do you want to use that one?' Will asked in a childlike manner.

'No!'

'Grace?' Jack continued the questioning.

'No.' Grace's answer was less certain.

'Grace!' Elliot, Mason and Karen shouted at her.

'Okay, so I do want to use that one. Will never succeeds with it anyway.' Grace defended.

'Like you could do anything charitable.' Elliot pointed out.

'That's not fair!' Grace protested.

'Oh, who are you kidding?' Mason said.

'Who _am_ I kidding?' Grace pondered.

'I'm not going to make a New Year's Resolution.' Karen said.

'How come?' Grace asked.

'Because all I want is for my little girl to get out of here and for everything to get back to normal. That's not something a New Year's Resolution can solve.' Karen said, beginning to cry again. Jack hugged her.

'That's all I want to.' Jack said, more to Karen than to anyone else.

'I got one. I am going to do more chores.' Mason announced.

'Yeah, I can see _that _happening.' Jack joked, still hugging a sobbing Karen. Karen laughed slightly at the joke.

'Since Grace stole my resolution I'm going to have to go with… I'm going to… I dunno… recycle more or something stupid like that.' Will decided.

'I'm going to go with… spend less on clothes and shoes.' Elliot said.

'Do you realise how queer that makes you sound?' Mason joked. 'You wanna add make-up to that list.'

'Shut up, you asshole.' Mason joked.

'I can think of, let me count… three people who maybe should use that.' Will said.

'Who?' Mason asked.

'Guess.'

'Me?' Grace asked.

'Yup.'

'Me?' Karen asked.

'That's two.'

'Me?' Jack asked.

'Wait a minute, make that four.' Will said.

'Who's the fourth?' Elliot asked.

'Liv?' Mason asked.

'That would be four.'

The silence told Will that he'd made a mistake in saying that and that they were all thinking the same thing. _Let's just hope it stays that way_.

They had been sitting in silence for a few minutes, all of them close to drifting to the land of nod, when they could hear people in the waiting room singing.

_Should auld acquaintance be forgot,  
And never brought to mind?  
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,  
And auld lang syne? _

For auld lang syne, my dear,  
For auld lang syne,  
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,  
For auld lang syne.

_And there's a hand, my trusty fiere,  
And gie's a hand o' thine!  
And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught  
For auld lang syne. _

For auld lang syne, my dear,  
For auld lang syne,  
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,  
For auld lang syne.

Grace looked at her watch. 'It's after midnight. Happy New Year, guys.'

'Happy New Year.' Will said.

'Happy New Year.' Mason offered.

'Happy New Year.' As did Elliot, Karen and Jack, one after the other.

'Happy New Year.' Someone else said in a raspy tone. Will, Grace, Jack, Karen, Elliot and Mason all looked at each other. All six turned to look at Olivia. 'What's up with you lot?' She asked in the same rough tone as earlier. 'You look like you've all seen ghosts or something. Where are we anyway? What the hell am I wearing? Grace, what the hell are _you_ wearing?' All six sat in shock. 'What the hell?'

'I just came in to wish you all a happy new year.' A doctor entered the room.

'I think there's something wrong with my family. A cat appears to have taken their tongues. Anything you can do about that?' Olivia asked the doctor sarcastically.

'Ah, so you've woken up.' The doctor said.

'What the hell are you talking about?'

'You were in a coma for four days.'

'I was?' Olivia asked, confused.

'Everybody thought that you weren't going to wake up. Your family have been here the whole time. Your aunt and uncle flew down from New York.'

'You did?' Olivia directed her question at Will and Grace, just as she was hugged by Karen. 'I don't mean to sound rude, but are you trying to kill me?' Olivia noticed everybody's faces. 'O…kay, bad word choice. But seriously, you are cutting off my oxygen supply.'

'I should get the doctor who has been treating you.' The doctor left the room.

'Okay so… what?' Olivia asked them all just as another doctor entered the room.

'Hi Olivia. I'm Dr Roberts.'

'Um… I have one question. How the hell have I been in a coma for the last four days?'

'Well, we believe you suffered a severe allergic reaction. Severe enough to stop your breathing and your heart for a little while.'

'What the…?' Olivia said.

'What did she have an allergic reaction to?' Karen asked in a weirdly happy tone.

'We determined the cause of the allergic reaction to be peanuts.'

'When did I last eat peanuts?' Olivia asked herself.

'_Damn. I didn't get peanuts. I knew I shouldn't have gone to the toilet. Now I've not got peanuts.' Olivia said, returning to her airplane seat._

'_Take mine.' Jack offered._

'_You sure?' Olivia asked._

'_Sure.'_

'_Thanks.'_

'Oh yeah. I remember now. I came back from the toilet and the stewardess-y person hadn't left peanuts for me so Jack gave me his and then about an hour later… I was throwing up.' Olivia recalled. 'And that's about as much as I can remember.'

'Well, you are banned from ever eating peanuts again.' Dr Roberts warned. 'Unless you want to wind up in hospital again.' At this point Jack left the room, followed by a confused Karen.

'What the hell was that about?' Olivia asked.

'Not a clue.' Will answered.

'Am I _really_ never allowed to eat peanuts again?'

'No. Under no circumstances.' The doctor warned.

'That sucks. Why peanuts? Why not walnuts? I hate them.' Olivia sulked. 'That sucks.'

---

Outside of Olivia's room, Karen walked over to Jack. 'Hey. What's wrong with you?'

'I nearly killed her. I nearly killed her.' Jack sobbed.

'Hey. She's fine. How were you to know when you gave her those peanuts? I wouldn't have known and neither could you. So, don't beat yourself up because there is nothing anyone could have done to stop this. Now just look forward to the fact that she's gonna get out of here soon and then we can go back home and everything will be back to normal.' Jack then pulled Karen into a tight hug. 'Oh, and Happy New Year.' Karen looked up at Jack.

'Happy New Year.'

---

Back in Olivia's hospital room, Mason, Elliot, Olivia, Will and Grace had been talking about the most random crap you can talk about when one of you has just awoken from a coma. Olivia looked out of the open door to her room when she noticed Jack and Karen kissing.

'Get a room!' Olivia shouted out her door. 'I'm back!' She said, high-fiving Elliot. 'Okay, so they just ignore me? Talk about rude. I've been knocked out for the last four days!'

---

At eight-thirty the next morning, Dr Roberts entered the Olivia's room. When he entered, he discovered seven sleeping people. Karen was sleeping on Jack's knee. Grace was leaning on Will's shoulder. The three teenagers looked innocent as angels sleeping on their own chairs.

Dr Roberts left the room, shutting the door quietly. He walked over to where another doctor was standing. 'You know, I think that might be the closest family I have ever seen.'

**A/N: I am so sorry for the long wait. Enjoy! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter:-) I'm gonna give you a translation for the third verse of Auld Lang Syne. Here it is: **

**_And there's my hand, my trusty friend,  
And give me your hand too,  
And we will take an excellent good-will drink  
For the days of auld lang syne_.**


	20. Chapter 20

Three days later, Olivia was released from the hospital. Ironically, Olivia was released on the day that their flight home was. Will and Grace had even managed to get booked onto this flight. After they had been checked in and were through all of the airport security, they were informed that their flight was delayed by two hours.

'You'd think we'd be used to flight delays by now.' Will said.

'How come?' Olivia asked.

'We were delayed for about twelve hours getting down here.' Will informed her.

'Well that sucks.' Olivia said.

'Liv, when you were in a coma, did you, like, think about things?' Elliot asked.

'Well, I seemed to remember stuff that happened years ago, like me and Mason being in Mary Poppins when we were like six or something. Oh, and all three of us getting lost in Disneyland for like two hours. Remember we went down with Will and Grace. I remember Will and Grace saying that _'our mum and dad would have killed them.' _By the way, did Jack and Karen ever find out about that?' Olivia directed her question at Will and Grace.

'About what?' Karen asked, overhearing Olivia's last sentence.

'About the time when Will and Grace lost us in Disneyland.' Elliot said. The look on both Karen and Jack's faces said it all.

'I'm gonna take those expressions as a no.' Olivia said.

'You lost them? You lost them in _Disneyland?' _Karen was acting mad.

'Well, you see the thing was they got separated from us getting off of a ride and we looked for them straight away and- and Karen is taking her high heels off.' Grace said in a scared tone.'

'And Jack looks like he's ready to punch one of us.' Will said.

'And Will and Grace look ready to be killed.' Mason said sarcastically.

'Okay let us explain what happened.' Will said. 'RUN!' At that, Will and Grace ran as fast as they could away from Jack and Karen, who ran after them. A high-speed chase around the airport ensued.

'Oh my god!' Olivia laughed, watching the four of them run around the airport.

'They are idiots.' Elliot said.

---

An hour later, Olivia and Elliot were in the duty-free. Olivia was looking at the perfume section and Elliot was, well, he was somewhere else.

'Did you see those idiots running about earlier?' A stranger asked Olivia, who was standing next to her in the perfume section. The stranger was a girl about Olivia's age.

'Oh, yeah.' Olivia replied.

'Wouldn't you be embarrassed if those idiot were your relatives?' The girl laughed.

'Not really.' Olivia replied.

'Seriously, you wouldn't be embarrassed by them?'

'Well, considering they _are_ my family.' Olivia replied. 'After fourteen years, you kinda get used to their madness.'

'Liv, we have to get out of here. We're boarding now apparently.' Elliot said.

'Elliot, did we get embarrassed when Mum and Dad chased Uncle Will and Aunt Grace around the airport?'

'No. We nearly killed ourselves laughing!' Elliot said. 'Come on, we gotta run.'

---

On the plane, Jack and Karen sat in the seats directly behind Will and Grace, who were sitting in the seat directly across for the kids. The stewardess was walking down the aisle handing out peanuts.

'Would you like some peanuts?' The stewardess asked Olivia.

'Oh, yes-' Olivia was cut off.

'NO!' Karen, Jack, Will, Grace, Mason and Elliot all shouted.

'What?' Olivia asked all of them.

'What were you told about peanuts?' None for the rest of us.' Karen said.

'Oh yeah… I remember now.'

---

Three hours later, the in-flight movie ended. Will, Grace, Olivia, Elliot and Mason had been fascinated by the movie. Will stood up.

'Where you going?' Grace asked.

'Bathroom.' Will answered.

Olivia looked behind her down the aisle. 'Um, I wouldn't.' Olivia said.

'Why not?' Will asked, confused.

'If you look down to the bathrooms, you will notice that the light above the bathrooms says vacant, meaning that at least one of the bathrooms is free.' Olivia paused for a breath. 'If you look at the row behind you, you will notice that Jack and Karen are both missing.'

'So?' Will asked.

'Well, where could they go on this airplane?' Olivia asked.

'To the bathroom.' Will said. 'Oh my god!' Olivia nodded.

'What?' Grace asked.

'Grace, three words. Mile. High. Club.' Will said, counting the word with his fingers.

'Ew!' Grace, Elliot and Mason all said.

'It's Jack and Karen.' Olivia said. 'What else do you expect?'

'The girl has a point.' Will said. 'How long until we land and I can use the airport bathroom?'

Grace looked at her watch. 'Few hours yet.'

'What do we do when Jack and Karen return?' Elliot asked.

'We act like we know nothing.' Will said.

'We don't make eye contact with either of them.' Grace added.

'Good plan.' Olivia said. 'Can us three stay at your apartment tonight?'

'Um… okay.' Grace agreed. 'God, I would hate to have those two as my parents.'

'We're used to it.' Mason said, while Elliot and Olivia nodded in agreement.

---

**A/N: I know this one is short but it's just a filler. Enjoy!**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Big thanks to Linds, who helped me some much in the last week. Love ya hun! Thank you :-)**

'So what are you guys up to this weekend?' Olivia's friend Michelle asked. It was the first time Michelle had visited since their last encounter at Central Park before Jack and Karen got together.

'Oh, we're staying at Will and Grace's tomorrow night.' Olivia replied to Michelle, as they walked down Fifth Avenue.

'That sounds… boring?' Michelle replied.

'Are you kidding? Will and Grace's friends are gonna be there too so we'll end up playing parlour games, which is always fun.' Olivia said. 'We might even join in this time. We usually sit out because Will and Grace are _really _scary when they play games. But since it's just me, Mason and Elliot that are going to Will and Grace's we might need to join in to make up numbers or something. Whatever excuse they come up with to make us join in.'

'Why is it just you, Mason and Elliot going?'

''Cause Jack and Karen are going out to dinner and, well, Will and Grace's is the safest place to escape to.'

'Who are Jack and Karen again?'

'Remember, the last time you were in New York, I told you. Jack was carrying Karen on his back and- '

'Oh yeah, I remember now.' Michelle realised. 'So, why are you saying Will and Grace's is the safest place to escape to?'

Olivia thought for a second. 'I haven't brought you up to speed yet, have I?'

Michelle shook her head. Olivia wondered then if she had forgot to tell Michelle about Jack and Karen because she was that used to it, or because it wasn't really that different to before Jack and Karen were a couple.

---

'My Aunt Honey's stomach.'

'Things that are stapled.' Will answered.

'Time!' Mason shouted.

It had been agreed that Mason would be the timekeeper. No, actually, Mason had volunteered to be timekeeper. That way he wouldn't embarrass himself.

'Surprise surprise. Will and Grace are in the lead. Next up: Rob and Ellen.' Mason declared.

---

At the same time as Rob and Ellen were facing their certain torture at the hands of Will and Grace, Jack and Karen were waiting for their desserts.

'So what do you think is going on Will and Grace's?' Karen asked, just before taking a sip of her wine.

'My guess is… Rob and Ellen are fighting back tears caused by Will and Grace.' Jack answered.

'Yeah, that sounds about right.' Karen laughed. Karen put her wine glass back on the table, accidentally knocking her napkin off of the table. 'Oops.' Karen said, leaning over to pick up the napkin and not noticing Jack putting something into the glass of wine. 'God, I'm such a klutz.'

'Yeah.' Jack said, nodding in agreement. 'You are.'

'You're not supposed to agree with me!' Karen laughed, oblivious to the danger in her drink.

'I'm just going to the bathroom. I'll be back in a few minutes.' Jack said leaving the table, unable to watch the results of his contamination to Karen's drink.

'Okay, honey.' Karen said, turning to look out of the restaurant window. A short while later, Karen went to take another sip of wine, not looking at her glass as she lifted it.

'Honey I wouldn't drink that.' The person sitting at the next table said to Karen, who gave the other diner the 'And why not?' look. 'The guy you were sitting with put something in it a few minutes ago.'

'What?' Karen said, shocked. 'What did he put in my glass?' Karen asked, not wanting to look at her glass. _Surely, he wouldn't spike my drink, _Karen thought to herself. _Would he?_

'I don't know. He just slipped something in there.' The person said, turning back round to their own meal.

Karen closed her eyes tightly, hoping that what she was imagining was far from the truth. Opening her eyes, she looked into the glass. She saw and lifted out a small metal object.

'Oh… my god.'

---

'Cheese!' Ellen shouted to Rob. 'Your feet!'

'Ellen, give me more clues!'

'Bad breath!'

'Ding ding. Time out.' Mason announced.

'Things that smell Rob!' Ellen said, sounding annoyed.

'Wait...my feet don't smell...' Rob said sitting back down.

'Okay, so Rob and Ellen scored… nothing. It's Mo and Mary – I mean Joe and Larry's turn now.' Mason joked.

'So, do you think we can kick these guys asses?' Elliot whispered to Olivia.

'Rob and Ellen are no problem to beat. Joe and Larry, yeah they won't be any problem.' Olivia said. 'It's Will and Grace's asses we want to kick.'

'Think we can do it?'

'Will and Grace are gonna get the biggest ass-kicking there ever was.'

---

When Jack returned from the bathroom some five minutes later, he found Karen staring at the small metal object he'd put into her glass.

'Um, Karen?'

Karen seemed to blank Jack.

'Hello. Anybody in there?'

'What…the?' Karen asked in a daze.'

'It's a key.'

'Yeah but… what?' Karen was still staring at the wine-soaked key.

'It's a key.'

'But…' You could almost see the rhetoricalwheels working in Karen's head. 'What?'

'I thought that… maybe… we could… live together?' Jack said, sounding nervous.

'Water.' Karen said, in a raspy tone. 'Give me water. Or a vodka shot.' Karen thought for a second. 'Actually I don't want to be hammered. So make that water shots.'

---

'Ids. Cher. Michael Jackson.' Joe said.

'Things that are plastic?' Larry guessed.

'No. Our Marriage.'

'Things that are fake!' Larry shouted.

'Correct.'

'Time is up!' Mason said. 'Now with only one more pair to play, Rob and Ellen are in last place, Joe and Larry second and, would you Adam and Eve it, Will and Grace are in the lead. Elliot and Liv, you're up next.'

'Wipe the smug smiles off of their faces.' Ellen muttered under her breath, but loud enough for everyone else to hear.

'And… go!' Mason shouted, signalling for Olivia and Elliot to start.

---

After a few shots of water, Karen finally managed to speak. 'Are you being serious?'

'What do you think?' Jack asked.

'I think I need another fake vodka shot.'

'Look I know it's sudden, and that we've only been together a few months but we've know each other for years and years and I know you know as well as I know that we're perfect for each other and that we spend every minute we can together, so why not live together?'

'Yes. Karen said.

'What?' Jack asked.

'Yes, let's live together!' Karen nearly yelled. 'Wait a minute, wait a minute. Hold the phone. Did you buy a house?'

'No.' Jack said sheepishly.

'Then, what's this key for?'

'It', uh, it's the key for my locker at the gym.' Jack said, looking down at the floor.

'You ass!'

---

'Crowds. Music. Grace's closet!' Elliot yelled.

'Things that are loud!' Olivia answered, looking directly at Grace as she answered.

'Correct!'

Elliot and Olivia were seriously scaring the hell out of Will and Grace. Their position as Game Night Champions was under threat.

'Candles.' Elliot said.

'Things that burn.' Neither Elliot not Olivia noticed Jack and Karen enter Will and Grace's apartment.

'Houses. Walls.' Elliot said.

'I don't know. Give me another clue!'

'Karen!'

'THINGS THAT ARE STONED!' Olivia yelled. They got a huge fright when they heard Will and Grace's door slam. Elliot and Olivia turned around to see an angry look on Karen's face.

'Me and you.' Elliot said quietly.

'Things that are in crap.' Olivia answered. 'When is our time up?'

'About seven seconds ago.' Mason said. 'And good news. You have officially won game night.'

'I knew we could kick their asses.' Elliot said.

'We wanna play!' Karen shouted.

'Okay then. You're up now.' Will said.

'And… go!' Mason

'Will's thighs.' Jack said.

'Things that grow.' Karen answered.

'What else should I expect?' Will asked himself.

'Polyester. Policemen. Unattractive babies!'

'Things you run from.'

'Okay, next clue. Me and you.' Jack said.

'People who are moving in together.' Karen yelled.

'What! They got three clues and they're time isn't up yet!' Grace shouted.

'Uh, Gracie. I don't think they're playing the game!' Will said,

'Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!' Olivia yelled.

'Yeah, whoa!' Elliot said just as loudly

'What the hell?' Mason asked.

'Did they just steal our thing?' Ellen asked Rob.

'Yeah, I think they kinda did.' Rob replied.

'Wanna.'

'Explain.'

'That?' Olivia, Mason and Elliot said respectively.

'Well…'

Karen and Jack went on to explain what had happened at dinner. Once the explanation concluded, Olivia turned to look at Will and Grace.

'Can Elliot, Mason and I live here from now on?' She asked sarcastically.

'Yeah, cause now there's gonna be now getting away from them.' Elliot added in the same sarcastic manner.

'No.' Will and Grace answered simultaneously.

'Damn.' Mason said.

'Wow.' Olivia said.

'Wow what?' Elliot asked.

'How quickly things change.' Olivia said.

---

**This chapter is dedicated to my Uncle Andy, who died suddenly of a massive heart attack on 19th of August 2006. He was 46.**

**_Uncle Andy, we all miss you so much and we will always remember you. x_ **


	22. Chapter 22

It had been a month since Jack and Karen had decided to live together. For some reason, they were being very secretive about the whole plan.

'You know, the kids are going to hate us for this.' Karen said in a worried manner.

'No they won't. They'll warm to the idea soon enough.' Jack tried to reassure her, even thought he knew it was true.

---

A few days later, Olivia walked into the Walker household, looking for the mobile phone which, being the forgetful asshole that she was, had left it _somewhere_ before leaving for ballet class in the morning. Now that it was nearly four o'clock in the afternoon, and she was just going to hang out with some friends from school, ballet class and, well, Mason and Elliot. The penthouse was the first place Olivia, along with a friend, checked.

'Hey Kristen, just sit on the sofa just now while I check this table that has so much crap on it.' Olivia said semi-sarcastically. 'God, does nobody tidy up around here? Damn, and now I've knock over a folder!' Olivia said as a brown paper folder fell onto the floor, its contents scattering everywhere. 'What the hell is this?' Olivia said to herself, inspecting the sheet of paper she had just picked up. Looking at another sheet, she said the same thing. And another sheet. And another sheet. 'Are they freaking kidding?'

---

'They want to move to _Westchester_?' Olivia said as she reached where her friends and Mason and Elliot were.

'What you talking about?' Elliot said sounding confused.

'They have been looking at actual houses outside of the city.' Olivia said loudly.

'Yeah, Liv. I don't think so somehow.' Mason said.

'Take a look at this sheet.' Olivia handed Elliot and Mason the sheet.

'So they looked at a house. They might not be serious.' Elliot said.

'And this sheet.'

'Okay, so they might just be seeing what their options are.' Mason said.

'And this sheet.'

'Okay, so they're looking at a lot of houses. They can't be serious.' Elliot said, sounding less sure.

'_And_ this sheet.' Olivia said, handing them the last sheet in her hand.

'Oh my god!' Mason said.

'Are they freaking kidding?' Elliot yelled.

'Her reaction exactly.' Kristen said, pointing to Olivia.

'You three could never survive out of the city. No way, no how.' Another friend said. 'The rest of us could maybe scrape by in the suburbs, but you three? No chance!'

'WE KNOW!' Olivia, Mason and Elliot shouted at the same time.

'I bet that's why they were being all secretive about it!' Mason yelled.

'Well, duh!' Olivia said.

'Okay, Bitchy. Calm down!' Mason responded. 'How do _they_ expect to be able to survive out of the city? Who are they trying to kid?'

'Us apparently!' Elliot said. 'By the way, where are they today?'

'House freaking hunting!' Olivia yelled. 'They cannot be serious!'

---

'So what do you think of this house?' Jack asked Karen.

'I love it.' Karen said, but unenthusiastically.

'What's wrong?' Jack asked, noticing her lack of enthusiasm.

'I think the kids will hate us for moving them out here.' Karen said nervously. 'I mean, they've lived in the city all of their lives. I don't know if they could adjust to life out here. You know, surrounded by nature.'

'It could take a while, but they will get used to it out here. Just as we'll have to. And if we all _really_ hate it out here, we can move back.'

'Are you sure?' Karen asked.

'I'm sure.'

---

'They want to move to Westchester?' Grace asked the three kids, who had went to

her and Will's apartment to see if they knew anything about it.

'That's what it looks like.' Elliot said.

Will and Grace looked at each other before bursting into fits of laughter.

'Are you guys having a joke?' Will said, barely able to talk through laughter.

'Do we look like we're joking?' Olivia said.

'Well, if you guys are anything like your parents, we'll never be able to tell whether you're taking the piss or not.' Will laughed. 'Ouch!'

'I'm sorry. This folder seems to have flown out of my hand and hit you in the face.' Olivia said sarcastically.

'Not funny.' Will said indifferently

'Oh I think it is.' Olivia said in the same tone.

'Anyway, before Will and Olivia make more bitchy comments, how did you find these?' Grace asked.

'I knocked the folder off of the coffee table in the living room.' Olivia explained.

'God, you three couldn't survive out of the city.' Will said.

'We've already been over this with other people. WE KNOW!' Elliot said.

'And how do they-'

'Grace, we've already been over that too.' Mason said.

---

A few hours later, Olivia, Elliot and Mason were still at Will and Grace's. They seemed to have forgotten about the whole house-moving kafuffle, or at least for the time being.

---

A two-hour drive later, Jack and Karen were in Riverside Drive building, waiting to go up to the ninth floor.

'So we just tell them.' Karen said nervously. 'Tell them that we've found a house outside of the city and that we're going to take them to see it tomorrow since it's pretty much set that we want to buy it.'

'And also ask Grace to decorate.' Jack added.

'Oh yeah.'

---

'By the way, why do we have two weeks holiday from school starting from Friday?' Olivia asked.

'I don't know. Are you complaining?' Elliot asked.

'No, I just wondered. By the by, if Jack and Karen come here, do we mention that we know about moving outta the city?' Olivia asked.

'No. Let's just keep our mouths shut.' Elliot said. Just then, Jack and Karen entered Will and Grace's apartment. 'You want to move to Westchester?' Elliot yelled.

'So we're still set on the keeping our mouths shut plan?' Olivia asked sarcastically.

'Wait, how you guys know already?' Karen asked.

'You suck at hiding folders. You think you would have learned not to hide things on the coffee table after the 'I found your bank account details' fiasco three years ago.' Olivia said sarcastically.

'Why are we moving out of the city? That sucks!' Mason said.

'Life in the city is so repetitive. It's the same every day. I guess we just want a change. We'll be back visiting, it's not like we're leaving New York and never going back again.' Karen said.

'But what about everything we do in New York like my ballet class. I don't want to have to stop dancing because we moved. And musical theatre, we don't want to stop going.' Olivia said, pleadingly.

'And basketball. We don't want to want to have to leave the team.' Elliot said.

'We've already checked. Olivia, there's another ballet class you can go to. And another musical theatre class. And another basketball team for you guys.' Karen explained.

'And it's really not that far away.' Jack added.

'Oh really? How long did it take you to drive back down here?' Olivia asked sarcastically.

'Two hours.' Jack answered sheepishly.

'But it's really not that far?' Elliot asked rhetorically.

'Would you just come and look at the house.' As Karen said that, Jack's phone rang. 'It's beautiful. A huge big garden. There's a little stream at the end of the garden. And there's lots of nature.'

'We hate nature!' Mason protested.

Karen rolled her eyes. 'Please, will you just come and see the house?'

'I don't think there's much point.' Jack said. His phone call had just ended. 'The owners have decided not to sell the house.'

An awkward silence followed.

'I'm just gonna…' Karen left Will and Grace's apartment, followed shortly by Jack.

'God, I feel awful.' Mason said quietly.

'I know.' Olivia agreed.

'We really are bitches, aren't we?'

'Elliot, why are you even asking that question?' Olivia answered. 'Of course we are. Put it down to the main attribute we got from our parents.'

'Looks like we're staying in the city for just a little bit longer then.' Mason said quietly.

Elliot and Olivia nodded in agreement.

---

**A/N: I know, I know. Awful chapter. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. And Linds, I hope you review again. We've missed your reviews :( Enjoy!**


	23. Chapter 23

'Do you think we should apologise for being bitchy about the whole moving house thing?' Elliot asked, as he, Mason and Olivia walked down Fifth Avenue, all three doing a spot of window-shopping.

'We've got to.' Olivia said. 'We're horrible, horrible people. I mean, did you see how crushed they were after they were told that they weren't going to get that house?'

'I know. I don't think I've seen either one so gutted about something like that. The thing I don't get though, is why do they want to move out of the city in the first place? I just don't buy the whole 'life in the city is too repetitive' speech. There's something that isn't right about that. There's something fake.' Mason said.

'Yeah I don't buy that reason either.' Olivia agreed. 'But you've both gotta admit this. They're serious about moving out of New York City. They wouldn't tell us and upset us about moving away if they weren't one hundred percent serious about it.'

'Liv, do you want to move out of the city?' Elliot asked.

'No, but they clearly do. I don't get why, and I'm not totally convinced that they'll survive out there- it is Jack and Karen we're talking about here- but they want to move out of the city, and I guess we don't have much choice. It might not be as bad as we're imagining in the suburbs.'

'Yeah, it will be worse because we're having to live there.'

'Oh Mason, shut up before I shut you up. I was bored last night and I found out on the Internet there's a train goes from the city to Westchester every day. There's a train every ninety minutes or something like that. So, we could visit like every second weekend or something like that. And I'm sure that we'll be going to Will and Grace's a lot of the time anyway.' Olivia explained.

'But if we move out of the city, we're going to need to go to a different school. I don't want us to lose all of our friends here.' Elliot said.

'Hello! MSN? Email? Telephone? Text messages? Ever heard of any of those things?' Olivia said sarcastically. Elliot gave her a mean look in return. 'Come on, it's not like we're moving to Europe! We're not even moving out of the state. We're just moving out of the city.'

'Liv, when did you even become a campaigner for the evil plan to leave New York anyway?' Mason asked.

'I didn't. I just felt awful because _we_ were so awful. Would it have killed us to be semi-alright with moving? I think we over reacted.'

'I guess.' Elliot reluctantly agreed. 'I still want to know why they want to move out of the city.'

'Hey. Isn't that Stuart walking towards us?' Olivia said.

'Stuart who?' Mason asked.

'Stuart as in Jack's ex-boyfriend?' Elliot said.

'Yeah.' Olivia said.

'Why hello. I haven't seen you kids in about three years. You know, somebody at a club told me that Jack McFarland had turned straight and was dating your stepmother.' Stuart laughed, pointing to Olivia and Mason.

'Yeah, we never worked that out did we?' Elliot asked.

'Worked what out?' Olivia asked.

'Is Jack, like, totally straight, or is he bi?' Elliot asked.

'I don't know. Does it matter?' Olivia answered. Elliot shrugged.

'So it's true then?' Stuart asked.

'Yeah.' Mason answered.

'Nah, you three are joking aren't you?'

'No.' Olivia answered.

'Well, I still don't believe you. But, anyway.' With that, Stuart walked away.

'That was… odd.' Mason said.

'Yeah.' Olivia said.

'Oh well.' Elliot said.

---

Karen walked into the estate agent's office with no hope of finding a house like the one that they'd lost.

'Mrs McFarland?' Karen stood up. 'I'm really sorry about that house.' The estate agent said.

'It happens, I guess.' Karen answered.

'Well, actually, we got this sent from our Cleveland office this morning. I thought you might want to take a look at this.'

Karen studied the piece of paper.

'Oh my god. Can you arrange for me and my family to get to look at this house?'

---

A few hours later, Mason, Elliot and Olivia bumped into someone they really didn't to bump into.

'Well, well, well.'

'Ah. Beverly Leslie. How are things in Ankleville?' Olivia asked sarcastically.

'Why, it's Karen Walker, Jr.'

'Never hit a woman Liv. Never…hit…a woman.' Elliot said.

'Can I hit you instead?'

'No.'

'You know, my high-class friends told me that Karen Walker was dating someone called Jack McFarland, but I told them that Jack McFarland is gayer than the day is long, so that can't be right.' Beverley Leslie laughed uproariously.

'Oh…I get it.' Olivia said quietly.

'You get what?' Elliot and Mason asked at the same time.

'I'll tell you later.' Olivia answered.

'To think, Karen Walker dating someone as good looking as that. He's almost as good looking as my business associate, Benji.' Beverley said, pointing to Benji. 'You kids remember Benji, don't you?'

'How could we forget?' Mason asked.

'Yeah, you've been trying to pass Benji off as your business associate since… before any of us were even born.' Elliot added.

'Well, we better skidaddle.' Beverley Leslie said. 'Benji and I have a… business meeting to attend.' With that, Beverley Leslie and his 'business associate' Benji walked away.

'Okay, so I think I get why Jack and Karen want to move out of the city.' Olivia said intriguingly

'Why do you think they want to move?' Elliot asked.

'Well, remember how we were speaking to Stuart earlier and he laughed at the idea of Jack and Karen being together?' Elliot and Mason nodded. 'And how Beverley Leslie laughed?' Again, Elliot and Mason nodded. 'Well, I think that everybody they know, except for us three, Will and Grace, are laughing at them, so they want to go to somewhere where nobody knows them as opposed to living here where everybody… knows their names.' Olivia explained.

'Were you watching _Cheers_ this morning?' Elliot asked Olivia, knowing that she was of the whole sitcom genre.

'Yes, yes I did.' Olivia confessed. 'Haven't been able to get that tune out of my head since… eight o'clock this morning.' Olivia answered.

'You know, Liv, I think you may have a point.' Elliot said.

'Point about what?' Olivia asked.

'God, you have the memory span of a goldfish.' Elliot scoffed. 'About Jack and Karen wanting tom move away because they're getting laughed at by the people they know.'

'Oh… that.' Olivia said in a realising tone.

'Damn, now I feel even worse about laughing at the idea of moving away.' Mason said.

'Join the club.' Elliot joked.

'Where are the membership forms?' Olivia asked.

---

'Okay, Mrs McFarland. We can arrange for you to visit this house next…Friday, would that be alright?'

'Yeah, that should be.' Karen said, still looking at the papers in her hand. 'Gives me a week to arrange flights and to bribe my kids into possibly moving to Ohio.'

'Oh… do they not want to move?' The estate agent asked.

'Not really. They're actually quite snippy about it. I don't blame them. They've lived their whole lives in the city so I understand that they don't really want to move. I'm sure they'll be fine with moving eventually.'

'I think most kids are against moving away from somewhere they've always known to somewhere that's totally new to them. It's like going from somewhere they don't know from somewhere where everybody knows their names.' The estate agent explained.

'Were you watching _Cheers_ this morning?' Karen asked.

'Yeah, I kinda was.'

'Well, so was my daughter. She was singing the _Cheers_ theme tune all through breakfast this morning.'

---

'Where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came.' Olivia sang, sitting in Grace's office.

Olivia agreed to help Grace in the office since Grace was busy, and Karen had asked for the day off.

'Liv, stop singing. Isn't it enough that I've had that theme tune stuck in my head since this morning?' Grace snapped.

'Okay sorry.' At that point, the office telephone rang. 'Grace Adler Designs. Hold on Mrs Friedman, I'll hand you over to Grace. Grace, Mrs Friedman want to discuss the designs for her bathroom.' Olivia handed the phone to Grace.

A few minutes later once Grace was off of the phone: 'Liv, could you so into the swatches room and get the fabrics for Mrs Friedman's bathroom.'

'Yeah.' Olivia knew exactly what fabrics she was looking for but, well, Grace's swatches room was as much of a mess as Grace's love life, so it would take a while to find the fabrics.

'Grace, can you fly out with us to Ohio next Friday?' Karen asked, entering Grace's office, unaware that Olivia was listing from the swatches room.

'Um… yeah. Why though?'

'There's a house there that I want to look at and I want you and Will to come with us as well.'

'Okay, we'll be there.' Grace said. With that, Karen left Grace's office.

'Did she just say Ohio?' Olivia asked.

'Um… I think so.' Grace asked.

'Holy crap! Grace can I use your phone?' Olivia asked, already dialling a number.

'Um… go ahead?'

'Elliot, we're apparently all going to Ohio on Friday. To look at a house. I don't know why. Yeah I know I said 'it's not like we're moving out of the state' but was before I found out they were looking at a house outside of the state!' Olivia yelled down the phone. 'God, you're a bigger bitch that I am! After they we all pissed over the last moving idea, the least we can do go along with this one. Hey, hey, hey before you say something you regret, 'cause you'll get in crap for it, I'm in Grace's office, so watch your tongue. Look, you tell Mason what I just told you and I'll speak to you later.' With that, Olivia hung up the phone. 'God, why do have to be the one to knock sense into Elliot and Mason. Although I can see where Elliot was coming from by freaking out. Wait a minute, Ohio? What the hell?'

'Are you just realising that Karen said Ohio now?' Grace asked sarcastically.

'Yes, yes I am. Call it delayed reaction time.' Olivia said. 'What are the chances of Elliot, Mason and me being able to live with you and Will so we don't have to move to Ohio?'

'No chance.' Grace jokingly said.

'Damn!' Olivia said.

**A/N: Enjoy! Thank you to everyone who reviewed and… review again please:) **


	24. Chapter 24

'So why exactly am I being forced into this house viewing trip thingy?' Will asked sarcastically.

'You're asking _us_?' Elliot snapped.

''Cause we've been asking ourselves the same question for like the last week.' Olivia said in an annoyed tone.

'Okay…' Will said, just as Grace walked over to the airport seats where they were sitting. 'Beware Grace, Liv and Elliot are in bitchy mode.' The comment was answered with evil stares. 'See?'

'Anyway… where are Jack and Karen?' Grace asked.

'Don't know and not sure we want to.' Elliot said without looking up from the magazine he was reading.

'Cosmo?' Really?' Olivia said sarcastically. 'Can I read it after you?' Elliot nodded in reply. 'Hey Mase, where ya been?'

'I'll tell you in a minute. Firstly, who has the plane tickets?'

'I do. Why?' Will asked.

'Are Jack and Karen's seat anywhere near the rest of our seats?'

'Um…yeah.' Will answered.

'Damn!' Mason shouted.

'What?' Grace asked, confused.

'Because there may be a repeat of what happened the last time we were all on a flight.'

'Me eating peanuts then violently throwing up?' Olivia asked.

'No, the flight after that.' Mason said.

'The fight aft- oh my God.' Olivia said.

'What?' Grace asked.

'Grace, three words-' Will began.

'Oh that.' Grace realised. 'What gives you that idea?'

'Don't ask.' Mason answered. 'Just don't go into the men's bathroom.'

---

'On a farm?' Mason yelled.

'Ow, my ears.' Grace said quietly.

'Are you freaking kidding?' Olivia asked sarcastically.

'We'll never be able to survive on a farm!' Elliot added.

'The words 'surrounded by nature' spring to mind.' Will answered on behalf of Elliot, Mason and Olivia. 'Which brings me to my next point: A farm. Who are you two trying to kid? Karen where are you going to shop? And Jack… I don't know to ask you.' Will said.

'Look, I'm not trying to kid anybody. It's just like the house I lived in when I was a kid. You know, before my dad died. Then my mum moved us away and then she started scamming people.' Karen said, fighting back tears.

'We're screwed.' Mason whispered.

'Looks like we'll be going home to pack.' Elliot said.

---

'And this is bedroom number four.' The estate agent said, leading them all into the room.

'Can this be my room?' Olivia asked enthusiastically.

'Why do you want this to be your room?' Karen asked.

'Because it has enough wardrobes to hold all of my crap.'

'I guess that's as good a reason as any.' Jack said.

---

'And this is the last bedroom, number five.'

'Rock paper scissors?' Elliot said to Mason.

'Okay.'

'Dammit!' Elliot said, having lost the game.

'So this is Mason's room then?' Olivia said.

'It would appear that way.' Jack said.

'I'll take bedroom three then.' Elliot said reluctantly.

---

'This is the room that the current owners have been using as a guest room.'

'Let me guess.' Olivia began. 'Will and Grace's room? You know, for when they visit. You are gonna visit right?'

'Yeah.' Grace said.

'Of course we're going to visit, you noodle!' Will added.

'You know, I think that's the first time I've been called a noodle since I was seven years old.' Olivia noted.

---

'Mr and Mrs McFarland, if you're certain about making an offer on this house, then you're going to need to come down to the office.' The estate agent said.

'Well, what do you guys want to do while we're at the estate agent's office?' Karen asked the rest of the group.

'We'll go into town and have a look about there.' Grace suggested. 'That okay with the rest of you?'

'Yeah.' The others said.

'We'll see you all later then.' Jack said.

---

Walking along the street, something occurred to Olivia.

'Hold on.' She said, causing Elliot to stop mid-step. 'Elliot you don't need to freeze.'

'Thank God.' Elliot answered.

'When Jack and Karen went to the estate agent's office, did she call the Mr and Mrs McFarland?'

After a few second of thought: 'Um…yeah.' Grace said.

'And none of us noticed until just now?' Olivia asked again.

'Um…yeah.' Grace answered again.

'Weird.' Olivia said.

---

A few days later, everyone was back in New York. But for five of them, it wasn't for much longer.

'Hey. Where you guys been?' Someone asked Elliot, Olivia and Mason as they walked into the classroom.

'Ohio.' Elliot answered.

'Why?'

'Um… well… we're leaving.' Mason said.

'What?'

'Um…we're moving to Ohio.' Olivia answered. 'In seven weeks.'

---

**A/N: Please don't yell at me! Well, my October holidays start next week, so I'll be able to update more often. Anyway, Enjoy :) And feel free to tell me that this chapter is awful:)**


	25. Chapter 25

'You know,' Elliot began, 'I never realised how gay all of our things are.'

'I know.' Mason agreed. 'I actually found a Cher CD hidden in a box under my bed.'

'Yeah, I don't think it gets much gayer than this.' Olivia said, holding up an object.

'A rainbow striped shiny belt?' Mason said.

'That is pretty gay.' Elliot laughed.

'I still can't believe we're leaving New York.' Mason said.

'I know. It's weird.' Elliot agreed. 'And Liv's crying again. Nice going Mason.'

'Ignore me.' Olivia said tearfully. 'How much have you got left to pack?'

'Nearly everything.' Elliot scoffed. 'I've hardly packed anything. What about you guys?'

'Same.' Mason said.

'I'm struggling to pack.' Olivia said. 'I didn't realise quite how much crap I actually have.'

'Well, at least we still have three weeks left.' Elliot said.

'Is that all?' Olivia asked.

---

A few days later, all three kids had packed the majority of their things.

'You wanna help me clear out the library?' Olivia asked Elliot.

'Sure.' Elliot agreed. 'You're too short to reach the top shelves anyway.'

'Hey!' Olivia protested. 'I am _not_ short!' She yelled. She looked down at the ground. 'Everybody else is freakishly tall.' She said sheepishly.

'Whatever you say.' Elliot said sarcastically. 'Hey, what's in this room?' He asked, pointing to the door opposite the library.

'Oh, that's the Forbidden Room.' Olivia answered.

'What's in it?'

'Elliot, this is the extent of my knowledge on that room: it's the Forbidden Room. It's always locked. Used to be called the empty room.'

'How long has it been called the Forbidden Room?'

'Um… eight…nine…maybe ten years.' Olivia answered. 'I'm not sure exactly. I just remember that the name changed when I was really young. Like, when I was three years old. Maybe younger.' Olivia explained. 'Wait a minute… that would be like eleven or twelve years at least. Never ask me about dates, I can never remember them. That's why I'm failing history.'

'You got a bobby pin?' Elliot asked.

'Yeah.' Olivia answered. 'Why?'

'Wanna see what's behind that door?'

'Yeah.' Olivia answered, pulling a bobby pin from her hair. 'While you fiddle about with that, I'll start packing up the lower shelves.'

---

'I'm sorry Ms McDonald. I can't decorate your house. I have another project. I really am sorry.' Grace said down her phone. 'What am I working on just now? Well, two of my friends are moving to Ohio, so as a gift to them I'm designing their house for them. They don't know about it yet, so don't tell them. They move in a couple of weeks, so I really need to get the designs finished so I can't take on any clients for the next few weeks.' Grace said, hoping to get off the phone soon just in case somebody walked into the office. 'Yeah, I'm gonna lose quite a bit of money, but they're my friends, so I don't mind.'

---

After a long while of trying to unlock the door, Elliot finally managed to unlock the door.

'Hey. Hey Liv, I got it!' Elliot yelled.

'It's about damn time! I've packed like twelve shelves already.' Olivia said jokingly.

'Shut up you.' Elliot laughed. 'Let's see what's behind the door then.' With that, Elliot opened the door.

'Oh my god.' Olivia said.

---

'Okay, so the next match is two weeks from today, and for Mason, it's going to be the last match with our team.' The football coach announced.

'If I was my sister, I'd be crying my eyes out at this point.' Mason said quietly.

'Olivia doesn't want to move?' Somebody else asked.

'It's not so much that. She can get a bit sentimental.' Mason explained.

'That sucks.'

'She'll be fine once we've all lived in Ohio for like a month or something.' Mason said. 'We all will.'

---

'You know, I still haven't found a replacement for Karen, and she leaves in less than two weeks.' Grace said to Will, who was in her office.

'Karen does no work for you and you get your work done.' Will stated. 'Why do you need a replacement for Karen?'

'I just like to have somebody else around here. It just gets too quiet around. You know what I mean?' Grace explained.

'I know what you mean. You'll find a replacement soon, don't worry.' Will reassured her. 'Hey, I wonder who'll move into Jack's apartment.'

'I never even thought about that.' Grace admitted. 'It gonna be weird having someone else living across the hall. Who's gonna come in and steal our food?'

'Who's going to comment on your atrocious outfits?' Will asked.

'Hey, there was no need for that Will.' Grace said, offended. 'It's going to be really weird once they move.'

'You don't say.' Will said quietly. 'How are you getting on with the design plans for their new house?'

'Fine. I've only got the living room to design.' Grace answered. 'You haven't let slip that I'm doing this as a gift, have you?'

'No. Unlike some people, I _can _keep my mouth shut.' Will said.

'Hey, I've been doing well with this!' Grace shouted.

---

'Holy crap.' Elliot said, walking into the Forbidden Room. 'Is this a… nursery?'

'Well… my eyesight isn't perfect, but… by the looks of things…yeah, it's a nursery.' Olivia said, still slightly stunned by what they'd found. 'Wow.'

'Did you really not know what was in here?' Elliot asked.

'I really had no idea.' Olivia responded.

'Hey, do you think this room will get packed too?' Elliot asked.

After a few seconds of thought Olivia said: 'Probably.'

A few second later, Olivia and Elliot heard the main door opening.

'Crap!' Elliot said.

'If anyone asks, we were never in here!' Olivia said, as they both rushed out of the room.

---

It was now the final week of living in New York. They were moving on Sunday. Today was Tuesday. Mason's last football game. Whether or not it was coincidence, Mason scored the winning touchdown. Not that he admitted it to anyone, but he got a little teary-eyed once the game was over, knowing that he wouldn't play for this team again.

---

Today was Wednesday. Elliot's last basketball game. His game had parallels to Mason. He also scored the winning point for his team, and he also never admitted that he was crying at the end of the game, even though he was.

---

Today was Thursday. Olivia's last ballet show. She danced her heart out. Unlike her brothers, when she took her final bow, she didn't hide the fact that she was crying.

---

Today was Friday. Mason, Elliot and Olivia's last day at school in New York. In the last class of the day, Olivia did nothing but sob. As a treat, the Spanish teacher allowed the small class to have half an hour of free time. Olivia had managed to compose herself.

'By the way, we hope you don't mind, but we got a cards since you're leaving.' A classmate said, handing them each an envelope.

Olivia read the front of her card. 'Sorry you're leaving. Don't forget about us.'

'And that is what not to do when somebody is already emotional about leaving.' Elliot said jokingly.

'Sorry.' Somebody said.

'It's okay.' Olivia answered.

'You don't want to move do you?' Somebody asked Olivia.

'It's not that I don't want to move.' Olivia began. 'I'm just really sad to be leaving.'

---

Friday was also Karen's last day working at Grace Adler Designs.

The phone rang.

'Grace Adler—' Karen attempted to answer before bursting into tears.

'Grace Adler Designs.' Grace took over the phone. 'Yeah, I'm sorry about that. It's my assistant's last day working here, and she's a little emotional.' Grace looked at the clock, and realised that the office shut in less than five minutes. Then Grace started crying. 'I'm sorry. Could I call you back tomorrow? Thanks.'

---

'Will, is it true you're not going to be at work for the next week?' Will's boss asked.

'Yes. I'm helping a couple of friends move house.' Will said, hoping his boss would go away before noticing the tears in his eyes.

---

Today was Saturday. Last day living in New York. After an emotional last time at musical theatre training, Olivia, Elliot and Mason went to their homes, and packed the last of their things.

At eight o'clock that night, everything was packed. Olivia wandered around the penthouse, noticing how empty and cold it now felt. It was almost as if they'd moved weeks ago. Now, she was in the corridor of the library, and the Forbidden Room. Looking around to make sure nobody was around, she opened the door to the Forbidden Room. Just as she had predicted a few days earlier, it had been packed. The boxes were still in the room. They would be loaded into the removal truck in the morning, and Olivia would pretend that she knew nothing about the room and its contents.

---

Today was Sunday. They were leaving today.

Everybody was awake by six a.m. It had been agreed that Jack and Will would drive to the new house with the removals company, and Karen, Grace and the kids would get a flight later on in the day.

Once all of the boxes had been loaded into the removals truck, they wasted no time in leaving. Once Jack, Will and the removals company were away, the others went to Will and Grace's apartment. After a few hours of sitting in Will and Grace's apartment, they were about to leave for the airport. Before they left, Elliot was asked to take out the trash. He was shocked to find that somebody was already moving into Jack's old apartment.

'I used to live there.' Elliot said.

'When did you move?' The new resident asked.

'This morning.'

---

Now in the airport, everyone was quieter than they normally were. Unable to stand the silence any longer, Olivia went to the duty free. A few minutes later, Elliot also went to the duty free.

'By the way, that room was packed.' Olivia said, seeing Elliot out of the corner of her eye.

'I know.' Elliot said.

'How?' Olivia asked.

'Well, there were a lot of boxes with the words 'Forbidden Room' written on them. That was my first clue.' Elliot said sarcastically. 'How did you find out?'

'I looked inside the room again.' Olivia admitted. 'Do you think the things in that room will ever be used?'

'Probably.'

---

As the plane took off, Olivia had tears rolling down her face.

'What's wrong with you?' Mason asked.

'It's nothing.' Olivia said. 'We just don't live in New York anymore.'

---

**A/N: This chapter took me all day to do! Lol, I've been working on it since 9 am with a few little breaks here and there. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter :)**


	26. Chapter 26

'Okay, so now that we've landed, how are we getting to the new house?' Olivia asked after they got through the airport customs.

'Taxi.' Karen answered.

'You get taxis in Ohio?' Elliot asked. 'That's cool.'

'Of course you get taxis in Ohio.' Karen scoffed.

'Do we know our way out of this airport?' Mason asked.

'No. That's why we follow the signs you fool.' Karen snapped.

'Whoa. Stressed much?' Olivia said sarcastically.

'Liv, how are your eyes so red?' Grace asked.

'Um… I was crying through the whole flight.' Olivia answered sheepishly.

---

'Okay, so does anybody have keys to the new house?' Mason asked, as the taxi was just a few minutes away from its destination.

'No' Karen answered.

'What if we're there first?' Elliot asked this time.

'Hmm… I never really thought of that. We won't be. It's fine.'

As the taxi pulled into the long and narrow road that lead only to their new house, everybody looked for the removals truck, which wasn't there.

'You were saying?' Grace sarcastically said.

'Well they can't be far behind us.' Karen said.

'Wasn't the whole point of us flying from New York in the afternoon was so they could be here first?' Olivia asked confused.

'Yeah it was Grace answered. 'Oh well.'

'We'll just sit on the porch until they get here.' Karen said, getting out of the cab and paying the driver.

'Congratulations on your new house.' The driver said. 'You'll like it here. Lovely area.'

'Oh, thank you.' Karen said. With that, the driver reversed out of the long road.

---

As hour later, Jack, Will and the removals truck still hadn't arrived.

'Is it just me or is anybody else freezing?' Olivia asked.

'I'm cold.' Elliot said.

'Yeah. Me too.' Grace answered.

Karen, meanwhile, had been on her mobile phone trying to get in touch with either Jack or Will.

'Any luck?' Mason asked.

'Do I look like I'm having any luck?' Karen snapped.

'That's why none of the rest have been asking.' Olivia said quietly.

'Is anybody else tired?' Mason asked amidst a yawn.

'I am.' Grace answered.

'Me too.' Elliot added.

'Me three.' Olivia said sleepily.

Just then, the removals truck began pulling up the driveway.

'About damn time.' Olivia said sarcastically.

'Where the hell did you get to and why the hell don't either of you answer your phones?' Karen yelled as Jack and Will got out of the car that followed the removals truck.

'One. There was traffic. Two. Phone battery died.' Jack said, giving Karen a hug at the same time.

'Both of them?' Olivia questioned.

'Um… I kinda left my phone in New York.' Will said shamefacedly.

'Dumbass.' Grace sarcastically said.

'Okay, can we go in the house?' Elliot asked. 'Cause we're all about to lose limbs to frostbite!'

'Take the keys.' Jack threw the keys to Elliot, but they landed to the left of him, closer to where Olivia was standing.

Handing the keys to Elliot, Olivia said, 'He may have turned straight-ish but he still can't throw. Open the door, and find the central heating!'

'If you're going inside, take our bags!' Grace said, handing Olivia both her bag and Karen's.

With that, Elliot opened the door, and he, Olivia and Mason entered, all in search of heat.

And thus, the unloading of the truck began.

---

Inside the empty house, Olivia, Mason and Elliot were still searching for the heating system. That's when Olivia knocked Grace's bag over, spilling its contents over the floor.

'Dammit!' Olivia cursed, as she knelt down to pick up the things on the floor. 'Why does Grace have her sketchbook with her?' She muttered to herself. Flipping through it, something caught her attention. 'The McFarland house. Living room… Kitchen…dining room…. Mason's room… Elliot's room. This is our house.' Olivia stated. 'Grace has designed the whole house.' Olivia continues to flick through the sketchbook. 'Provisional plans for nursery? What the?'

'Hey, maybe Grace knows about the Forbidden Room too.' Elliot suggested.

'Looking at this I'm gonna say…. She doesn't.' Olivia said semi-sarcastically.

'Well, she's just weird then.'

---

A few hours later, and it was past midnight. Everybody was exhausted. And hungry.

'Anybody know of a good Chinese takeaway?' Grace suggested.

'Or any good takeaway?' Olivia added. 'Will any takeaways be open at this time?'

'I don't know. Anybody want to drive into town and look?' Karen asked.

'I'll go.' Grace offered.

'Me too.' Olivia also offered.

'If we're not back in a few hours, we're lost so call 911.' Grace warned.

'Okay, we will.' Will laughed.

---

An hour later, Grace and Olivia returned with Chinese food. Cold Chinese food.

'We're back.' Olivia said, entering. 'With cold food.'

'Yeah, we got lost driving back here, so it's cold Chinese food all round. Sorry.' Grace added.

'Who cares if it's cold?' Karen said. 'We're all hungry. We don't care anymore!'

'Hey, nice makeshift table by the way.' Olivia said, looking at the boxes that were tipped upside down and the sheets of newspaper that covered it.

'Can we keep this as a table?' Mason asked through a mouthful of egg roll.

'No.' Jack said. 'And don't talk your mouth full.'

---

A short while later, all of the food had been eaten.

'Have beds been put in room yet?' Olivia asked sleepily.

'Mattresses have.' Karen answered.

'Okay, I'm going to try to find where my room is and then I'm gonna sleep 'cause I feel like dead beat Walker. Goodnight.' Olivia said, walking off to find her room.

'I'm gonna go the same.' Elliot agreed.

'Me too.' Mason added.

'Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.' Grace said through a yawn. 'I'm gonna find your guest room.'

'Grace, for once you actually have a sensible idea.' Will said. 'Night guys. Guys?'

Jack and Karen had both fallen asleep.

---

**A/N: I know, sucky chapter. It's yet another filler. Feel free to yell at me. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Love yas! Mars x**


	27. Chapter 27

It had been a week since the move to Ohio, and today was Elliot, Olivia and Mason's first day at their new school. Will and Grace were still staying at the new house. Will was helping Grace decorate. At seven a.m., it was the mad breakfast rush.

'Who wants toast?' Karen yelled from the kitchen.

'Me please.' Olivia yelled from another room.

'Who shouted that?'

'Me.'

'Who the hell is me?'

'Liv.'

---

A half hour later, toast was still being made. The kids had all had their breakfast and were now going to get their new school uniforms on, which their parents had 'kindly' put in each of their rooms for them.

On seeing their new uniforms, all three kids shouted at the same time: 'Are you freaking kidding me?'

Karen winced when she heard them yelling, knowing the hell that was about to kick off.

'I'm guessing they found the uniforms.' Jack said.

Seconds later, all three kids re-entered the kitchen looking very angry.

'A blazer, a shirt, a tie, a long tartan skirt, tights and flat shoes.' Olivia said angrily.

'And I thought our uniform was bad.' Elliot said.

'What's yours?' Olivia asked.

'Blazer, shirt, tie, dress pants and… flat shoes.' Mason answered.

'Okay, so do you two want to explain the fashion disaster?' Olivia said acrimoniously to Jack and Karen.

'Yeah, that's your school uniform.' Karen said.

'Why?' Olivia whined.

'I don't know! That's just the school's rules. Trust us. If it were up to us we wouldn't have you wearing that.' Karen said sympathetically.

'It's worse than Grace's outfits!' Elliot complained.

Grace looked offended

'Oh well, crap happens. Deal with it.' Karen said in a bitchy tone. 'Your bus will be at the end of the road in forty-five minutes.'

---

'Can you believe this uniform?' Elliot said to Olivia and Mason.

'I know.' Olivia scoffed. 'I'm feel off balance and short. I have no heels whatsoever! It's not fair.'

As they reached the end of the road, they saw the bright yellow school bus approaching.

'Well, good luck.' Olivia said.

'Yeah. I think we're going to need it.' Elliot said, being the first to step onto the bus.

---

Much to their dismay, Olivia, Mason and Elliot had been put in separate classes. Morning break was the first time they'd been able to speak.

'I hate it here!' Elliot said through gritted teeth.

'Me too.' Mason said. 'Everybody's is so… straight laced. And they don't speak our language.'

'Guys, we're Fruit Loops surrounded by Cheerios!' Olivia said. 'It's like we've moved to a whole other country and we don't know the language!'

'Well, if we've stuck here for good… then we're just gonna have to grin and bear it. We'll get used to it here… eventually…' Elliot said hopefully.

'How you holding up with the uniforms?' Mason asked.

Olivia shrugged.

'Another one of those things we're just going to have to grin and bear.'

Just then, the bell rang, signalling for pupils to the next class.

'Well, good luck. And I'll meet you guys later.' Olivia said.

---

Standing in her Home Economics class waiting for her new teacher, Olivia stood beside some girls she had met in another class. And beforehand she had thought she was a bitch….

'Ah, you must be the new girl.' The teacher said. 'Olivia McFarland, is that right?'

'You know, I've had a different surname in each of my three classes today.' Olivia said.

'Well, let's see…' The teacher said, looking a space at a table. 'You can go over there.' She said, pointing to a table.

Walking towards the table, Olivia heard someone mutter, 'She's been put in the queers' table.'

Olivia smiled.

---

Mason and Elliot's class was definitely _not_ one they we looking forward to.

Woodwork.

Oh dear.

'Okay so you two are Elliot and Mason McFarland, right?'

'Right.' Elliot answered.

'Okay, so there's two spaces over there.' The teacher said, pointing to a workbench area.

'Over by the queers' table.' Somebody sniggered.

'We're gonna be just fine.' Elliot said quietly, as he and Mason took their places at the workbench.

---

At lunchtime, Olivia came out of her class with the three guys she had met in her Home Economics class. Just out of coincidence, she had been out in the same RE class as them.

'We need to find my brothers. They'll be around somewhere.'

---

Unbeknownst to Olivia, Mason and Elliot were looking for her along with the guys they'd met in their woodworking class.

'She'll be around here somewhere.' Mason said.

'Yeah.' Elliot said. 'I have her make-up.'

'Why do you have her make-up?' Mason asked.

'Why do I have her make-up?'

'Liv!' Mason shouted, seeing her a few metres away.

'There they are.' Olivia said to herself. 'Elliot do you have my make-up?'

Elliot handed Olivia her make-up bag.

'So, how are you liking it here in Ohio?' Ben, the most effeminate of the new people, asked.

'I think I'm beginning to like it out here.' Olivia said.

'Me too.' Elliot said.

'Yeah.' Mason added.

Olivia looked round. Then she realised that she was the only girl in the group of nine. 'God, I feel like such a hag. Elliot, Mason, if I get anymore like Aunt Grace…shoot me.'

---

At four thirty, the kids eventually arrived home.

'How long is that little road leading up to the house?' Mason asked sarcastically.

'About a mile and a half!' Elliot said in the same tone.

'Helloooo! We're home.' Olivia said, entering.

'Hey.' Grace said. 'Your parents are away out, by the way.'

'By the by, I forgot to say to you three this morning, nice uniforms.' Will then got a cushion thrown at him. 'Anyway… how was school?'

'It was okay… surprisingly.' Olivia answered. 'Where are Jack and Karen?'

'Food shopping.' Grace answered.

---

An hour and a half later, Jack and Karen returned with shopping bags.

'We're home.' Karen said, entering.

'What's for dinner?' Olivia asked, not looking up from her homework.

'Liv, we're getting closer to shooting for being like Grace.' Elliot said sarcastically.

'Oops.' Olivia said.

'Okay, so for dinner tonight is… spaghetti bolognaise.' Karen said, putting the shopping into the correct cupboards.

'This sucks. Why did we get maths homework on our first day?' Elliot complained.

As the insignificant conversation about homework and dinner and eventually chores continued, Will and Grace both thought the same thing.

They're a normal family.

---

**A/N: Hope you enjoy!! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!!**


	28. Chapter 28

_Your mother won't hate me _

_But I've got my doubts_

_And what if I'm right?_

_-What If I'm Right, Sandi Thom-_

It had been three months since the move to Ohio. Grace had designed the house as a 'sorry you're leaving/ congratulations on your new home' gift, and she and Will had gone back to New York. The 'McFarlands', as it were, had settled in well to their new lifestyle…

---

'So what's happening at your house this weekend?' One of the friends asked Elliot, Olivia and Mason.

Olivia and Mason immediately tried to stifle laughter.

Elliot gave Olivia and Mason mean looks before saying, 'Judith McFarland is coming to visit.'

Olivia and Mason were struggling to not laugh.

'Who's that? What's so funny?'

'Judith McFarland… would be Elliot's grandmother.' Olivia said through laughter.

'And that's funny… how?'

'It's fun to watch Elliot's torture.' Mason said.

'Hey, hey, hey!' Elliot protested. 'There will come a day when _your_ grandmother will visit and don't expect me not to laugh.'

'Yeah… I don't see that happening.' Mason said.

'It will.' Elliot maintained.

'Oh please.' Olivia laughed. 'Mason, when has Lois Whitley _ever_ visited us?'

'Um… never!' Mason laughed.

'My point exactly.' Olivia said.

'There _will _come a time and I _will_ laugh.' Elliot sustained.

'Okay, if Lois Whitley ever visits us, I will gladly eat my words.' Olivia said. 'Deal?'

'Deal.' Elliot accepted, shaking Olivia's hand.

---

'Okay, so we're leaving to pick Jack's mum up from the airport. You kids finish tidying up here.' Karen said nervously, putting things into her purse.

Olivia looked around, confused. 'We've already finished tidying.'

'Okay, then just don't make any mess.'

'Nervous much?' Olivia asked sarcastically.

'Do I need to state the obvious?' Karen snapped.

'Um…' Olivia cautiously said. 'You can if you want.'

'Dammit, I spilled orange juice in the kitchen.' Jack said.

'Oh dear.' Mason said, hearing this.

'This could be trouble.' Elliot said, in a sing-song-y manner.

Olivia slowly and slyly stepped away from where she had been standing, next to Karen, to where Elliot and Mason were.

'You spilled… orange juice… in the kitchen?' Karen said angrily and through gritted teeth.

'Oh dear.' Mason said fearfully.

'She's gonna blow…' Olivia said in a similar sing-song-y manner had Elliot had used earlier.

'Run!' Elliot shouted, and he, Mason and Olivia ran up some stairs.

'Where the hell did you spill the orange juice?' Karen said, storming into the kitchen.

Jack was beginning to think that this prank had been a bad idea…

Entering the kitchen, Karen knelt down to one of the cupboards. Finding what she had been looking for, she stood back up, and began looking for the orange juice spill. Looking frantically round the kitchen, she couldn't find a spill.

'Where did you say you spilled the juice?'

'Um… maybe now might be a good time to tell you that I didn't spill any orange juice.' Jack admitted, looking down at his feet. 'I was just messing.'

'I cannot believe you.' Karen said crossly. 'You know how nervous I am about today and you're messing around and-'

'Karen, calm down.' Jack said, pulling her in for a hug. 'You've met my mother before and she liked you. Why are you so nervous?'

'Because the last time I saw her, I was just some random woman and you were her gay son.' Karen sighed. 'This time we're living together along with our kids. I'm afraid she's going to get confused and hate me.'

'She won't.' Jack said reassuringly. 'And even if she does, who cares? It's not like she's around all the time.' Kissing her forehead, he said, 'And what are you even worrying about? I've still got to meet you mum.'

'Because I see _that_ happening.' Karen said sarcastically.

'Why not? I bet your mother's lovely.' Jack said laughing.

'She's not. She's a bitch.'

'Well, her fruit didn't fall far from that tree.' Jack muttered quietly and jokingly.

'I heard that, you queer!'

---

A forty minutes later, Jack and Karen had left for the airport, leaving the kids in the house on their own. Whilst watching an episode of _Scrubs_, there was a knock at the door.

'I'll get it.' Olivia said, standing up and leaving the living room.

A few seconds later, Olivia re-entered the living room, wrote something down on a very small piece of paper then put the paper in her mouth and swallowed it.

Elliot and Mason were horrified.

'What the hell was that?' Elliot said.

'That was me eating my words.' Olivia said, looking as if she could throw up at any moment.

'You do realise that eating your words doesn't mean you literally have to … eat your words?' Elliot asked.

'You don't?' Olivia asked, genuinely shocked. 'Anyway, Lois Whitely is at our door.' Olivia said, stage whispering.

'You're kidding, right?' Mason said.

'No.' Olivia said, shaking her head.

'Wait… have you answered the door?' Elliot asked.

'No, I just looked through the peephole.' Olivia answered.

'So she's just standing on the porch?' Elliot asked.

'Yeah.' Olivia answered, missing the point of the question. Elliot and Mason shot her funny looks. 'Oh yeah… I better answer the door.'

'Might be an idea, Liv.' Mason said nodding.

---

In the airport, Karen had been nervously pacing. Judith McFarland's flight had been delayed.

'You know what, I'm just going to jump off a bridge or something. It seems like more fun than here.' Karen said sarcastically, turning to face a door. Before she had a chance to make a run for it…

'Jack?'

'Hi Mum. You know Karen?'

'Hi. ' Karen said, the nerves evident in her voice.

'Oh Karen, what a surprise.' Judith said. 'What are you doing here?'

'Everything will be explained later.' Jack answered.

As Judith walked ahead, Jack turned to look at Karen, who was pouting and fake crying.

'You think that works on me? Come on. It will all be over with in a coupla days.'

---

Although an hour had passed since Lois turned up on the doorstep, not a word had been spoken.

'So, um, Lois… what brings you to this neck of the woods?' Elliot asked, deciding to be the one to start up conversation.

'Neck of the woods?' Olivia asked quietly. 'Where the hell did that come from?'

'I have no idea.'

Just as Elliot answered Olivia's question, the front door opened, and Jack, Karen and Judith entered.

'I smell trouble.' Olivia said nervously.

'Prepare yourselves for World War Three.' Mason said.

As Jack, Karen and Judith entered the living room, all three kids braced themselves.

'Mum?' Karen said, surprised.

'Kiki!'

'Whoa whoa whoa. What the hell are you doing here?' Karen asked her mother. 'What the hell is she doing here?' This time the question was directed at the kids.

'Hey, don't ask us.' Elliot said. 'We don't know.'

'Honey, somebody told me that you had moved out here and I came to visit you.' Lois declared.

'Is that true? Or did you screw up one of your scams and now your looking for a place to hide?' Karen asked bitterly.

'So you stay in Ohio too, Karen?' Judith asked. 'Where do you stay?'

'Here.' Karen answered.

'Oh… so this is your house? Jack, where do you stay?' Judith asked.

Elliot, Olivia and Mason exchanged confused glances.

'Here.' Jack answered.

'Wait… I'm confused.' Judith said.

'Yeah, me too!' Olivia said.

'Do you both live here?' Judith asked.

'Yeah.' Jack answered.

'Like together?' Judith asked.

'Uh-huh.' Karen answered.

'As in…'

'As in?' Elliot asked Judith to complete her sentence.

'Like a couple?'

'Um… yeah.' Jack answered.

'What the?' Judith said.

'Can I just jump in and say that that was a _lot_ less mentally disturbing than the way _I _found out?' Olivia said.

'How did you find out?' Lois asked.

'You don't wanna know.' Mason answered on Olivia's behalf. 'It's disturbing enough hearing it.'

As Judith tried to connect the dots in her head, an uncomfortable silence set in. A few minutes later, Olivia started giggling. Everybody in the room look at her as if to 'what are you laughing at.'

'It's funny 'cause it's awkward.'

---

Back in New York, Will sat in his apartment alone watching television. Grace was out on a date with… Leon… Leonard… some guy she'd met in the park whose name began with the letter L. From what Will gathered, he was a Jewish doctor, whom Grace had immediately said her mother would approve of, which was always a good thing. Grace had been out with Leo a few times before, (_Leo. That's his name!) _and she said that he was perfect for her. Will wondered how long Grace's new relationship would last, and was unwittingly working out how he would pick up the pieces when it all ended, that being what happened with all of Grace's relationships. When the apartment door opened, he heard Grace laughing, so he knew he didn't have to pick up the pieces just yet.

'Hey Will. How was your night?' Grace asked.

'Hilarious actually.' Will answered, genuinely surprised. 'Around about seven thirty, I got a call from the McFarland household. Elliot, Mason and Olivia were asking how you stop parents and grandparents from fighting with each other.'

'Oh yeah, Judith McFarland was visiting them.' Grace said, laughing. 'Wait a minute… Grandparents? Plural?'

'This is the funny bit. Guess who else decided to pay them a visit?' Will said, grinning evilly.

Grace thought for a second. 'You're kidding?'

Will shook his head.

'Lois Whitley turned up at their door?' Grace was in stitches of laughter. 'I would have paid good money to have seen the look on Karen's face.'

'Uh, can I just ask who the hell these people are?' Leo said, completely confused.

'They're our friends who moved to Ohio. You'll meet them soon.' Grace answered. 'And Will, we have some exciting news.'

'Yeah? What's that?' Will asked, intrigued.

Grace and Leo exchanged glances and nods before Grace made the announcement. 'We're getting married!'

---

In Ohio, the bickering… had ended.

'Hurrah!' Olivia said sarcastically. 'Are you guys just gonna talk quietly?'

All adults chose to ignore Olivia.

'Ignored much?' Olivia said.

'Mum, can you just agree to be happy for us?' Jack pleaded.

'And Mum, can't you just curl up and die?' Karen said bitterly.

'Ouch.' Mason said quietly.

'I can.' Judith McFarland answered.

'But I can't curl up and die.' Lois Whitley answered.

'Damn.' Karen said resentfully.

'I wonder which one of them she was talking to.' Elliot said.

'I was thinking the same thing.' Mason answered.

Then the phone rang.

'I'll get it.' Olivia offered, picking up the phone.

'Kiki, I know I was a bad mother, and if I could take all that back, I would. I wouldn't move from town to town pulling all those scams. I really wouldn't. I wouldn't do any of the horrible things I did when you were young. I know I can't really make it al up to you, but I'd really like to try to be a good mother now, if you'd only let me.'

Karen looked at the ground for a minute. 'Oh, Mum, I missed you.' She said tearfully, hugging her mother.

'What did I miss?' Olivia said, tip-toeing back into the living room, the phone call ended.

'Well, I _think_ Karen just forgave her mother.' Elliot said, a hint of confusion in his voice.

'But I hope you realise that this doesn't mean I forgive you.' Karen said.

'Huh, maybe not.' Elliot corrected himself.

'But at least we're getting to start over.' Lois said.

'And Jack, as long as you're happy, I'm happy.' Judith added.

As hugs were exchanged between the mothers and their children, Olivia, Elliot and Mason sat with confused expressions.

'You know how you get those weird, kinda surreal moments in you life that you don't believe that you're seeing?' Olivia said.

'Yeah.' Elliot and Mason answered simultaneously.

'Well, this is one of them.'

---

The next night, Judith flew back to New York, as did Lois, who'd revealed she had been staying there.

'Weird weekend.' Karen noted, relieved it was all over.

'Yeah.' Jack agreed. 'Was it as bad as you expected?'

'Worse! My mother turned up!' Karen laughed. 'Once it settled down, it actually turned out to be pretty great.'

'See, I told you it wouldn't be as bad meeting my mother again.'

'Yeah, you did.'

At a juice machine was where the kids were.

'By the way, Liv, who was on the phone yesterday?' Mason asked.

It took Olivia a few seconds to remember the phone call. 'Oh yeah. Sentence I never thought I'd say: Grace Adler's getting married.'

---

**A/N: I probably should have said this at the beginning. It's not set in any particular season. What I'm doing is taking things from the show (like Grace and Leo getting married) and fitting them into the fic. And I've changed the way Grace and Leo decided to get married because it works better for the fic the way that I'm writing it. Although, I'll let you know now that Leo won't feature a lot. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Enjoy! BTW, does anybody have the OpenOffice programme that the site offers? What's it like?**


	29. Chapter 29

'Going home going home going home.' Olivia sang.

'I'm sorry sir, you'll have to ignore my sister.' Elliot apologised to their English teacher. 'She is more than extremely hyper.'

'Well,' Mason began, 'we're going home going home going home!' Mason also sang.

'As is my brother.' Elliot amended. 'God, I don't think I've seen either of you so hyper since Christmas and we were about to leave for the airport to go to Jamaica.'

'And we know how that trip turned out.' Mason said, grimacing.

'How did that trip turn out?' A classmate asked.

'Yeah, how _did_ that trip turn out?' Olivia asked, confused.

'You ended up in a coma!' Elliot informed.

'Really?' Olivia said, as if she was hearing all of this for the first time.

Mason shook his head in disbelief.

'How the hell did that happen?'

'I actually have no idea.' Olivia said nonchalantly.

'Peanut anyone?' Another classmate offered.

'Yes please.' Olivia said, reaching her hand out.

Erasers were thrown across the classroom.

'OUCH!' Olivia screamed. 'Who the hell was that?' She asked, rubbing the back of her head.

Classmates pointed to Mason and Elliot.

'What the hell was that for?' Olivia whined.

'That was how the coma happened!' Mason shouted.

'Oh yeah…'

'So when are you guys leaving?'

'In about three hours!' Elliot said excitedly.

'See you're hyper too!' Olivia said in a childish tone.

'Okay, I'll admit it. I'm hyper too.' Elliot resigned. 'Although the _real_ hyper attack will come when we're running around at home trying to make sure we all have everything packed before we leave for the airport.'

'Ah yes. The mad rush!' Mason said.

'You've gotta love it.' Olivia giggled. 'Especially in our house. It usually involves tears, drama, hair pulling and finger pointing.'

'Then the ride to the airport usually involves Liv and Mason belting out any random song at the top of their lungs.' Elliot added.

'That's the best part!' Olivia grinned.

'Although the whole trip goes downhill.' Elliot frowned.

'With a vertical drop.' Mason added.

'Yes, the rest of the trip involves not going into the bathroom unless absolutely necessary, being delayed for hours and then once you're on the plane it involves keeping your eyes firmly on the TV screen and hoping not to turn around to find that both of your parents are not in their seats.' Olivia explained

'And if you're anyone other than Liv, it involves hoping there isn't a repeat of the Jamaica flight debacle.' Mason added.

'Isn't that what I just discussed?'

'No you're talking about the flight coming home from Jamaica. He's talking the flight going to Jamaica.' Elliot explained. 'Both were horrifying but for completely different reasons.'

'I do not get your family.' A classmate stated.

'Neither do we half of the time so don't worry.' Olivia said.

---

'Okay, that flight was strange.' Mason said. 'There were no delays and it was safe to go to the bathroom at all times.'

'I may get over my fear of flying.' Olivia proclaimed.

'I wouldn't say that until it's safe to go to the bathroom at all times when both are awake at all times.' Elliot warned.

'Yeah, 'cause even if they do manage to get through one flight… safely… you know it would never last.' Mason added.

'Where are we meeting Will and Grace?' Olivia questioned.

'Right over there.' Mason pointed.

'Hey!' Olivia said walking over to where Will and Grace were standing.

'Hey kids.' Will said.

'Where are your parents?' Grace asked.

'They're –' Olivia looked around. 'Huh. That's weird.'

'Not really.' Elliot began. 'There's a bathroom over there.'

Olivia pulled a face.

'Told ya.' Mason laughed.

---

'So Grace when you getting married?' Karen asked in the car ride to the apartment that Grace would move out of very soon.

'Um… two days.' Grace said.

'Grace? Impulsive?' Mason asked.

'That's not right.' Elliot said.

'You're kidding, right?' Olivia's question was directed at Grace. 'You mean I only

have three days to find the right outfit? How am I gonna find the right outfit in that space to time.'

'Liv, you just stole my question.' Karen said.

'Sorry.'

'Guys, we _are _in New York.' Will stated. 'We _do_ have good stores here.'

'Woohoo!' Olivia cheered. 'I can finally do some decent shopping!'

'What do you need to go shopping for?' Grace asked.

'Outfits for your wedding, you goldfish!' Karen snapped jokingly.

Grace thought for a second. 'Huh?'

Will rolled his eyes. 'Gracie, you're getting married in two weeks to Leo, remember? That's why these nutters are here in New York.'

'Hey, we're right here!' Jack protested.

'Who are you kidding?' Will retorted. 'So tonight you guys are coming to dinner, right?'

'We are?' Jack asked.

'Yes you are.' Grace answered. 'I'm going to cook and you're all going to meet Leo.'

'Who's Leo?' Mason asked quietly.

'Why the hell are you asking me?' Olivia asked sarcastically. 'I stopped listening way before you did!'

'And the rest of us, including Will, stopped listening when Grace said she was going to cook.' Jack added.

'You know,' Will began, 'living out of the city hasn't changed you lot one bit.'

'And unless Grace has learned to cook, you guys haven't changed much either.' Karen said.

---

'Yep, you guys haven't changed much either.' Karen said, finishing the meal that Grace had cooked.

---

'Is anybody else not liking this Leotard guy?' Olivia asked Elliot and Mason quietly.

'There's something strange about him.' Elliot said.

'He seems a little pretentious.' Mason said.

'Oh, big words.' Olivia joked.

Little did they know, Jack, Karen and Will were discussing the same subject.

'I'm not sure I trust this guy.' Will muttered.

'I know.' Jack agreed. 'He's very far up his own ass.'

'But Grace seems really happy.' Will said. 'I feel as if I'm caught between a rock and a hard place.'

'Look,' Karen began, 'you want Grace to be happy, right? And the dancewear guy clearly makes her happy. And Will, I know it might be difficult, but you've got to let her run her own life. If she wants tom marry Leo, then you've got to let her marry Leo. If it puts your mind at rest, giving the guy a strict warning. Tell him that if he ever does anything to hurt your Gracie, you'll hunt him down and kill him.' Karen continued. 'And I know you would kill anybody that hurt her.'

'You're right.' Will admitted. 'When did you start talking so much sense?'

'Honey, I always talk sense.' Karen said. 'Sometimes, it's just other people's sense that I'm talking.'

---

'_Before I give her away you, you need to promise that you'll take good care of her. Make her feel special. And if you **ever** do **anything** to hurt her,' Jack warned, ' I will hunt you down and kick your smug English ass into the Atlantic.'_

_'Um… thanks for the rather scary warning.' Lyle Finster said. 'And I promise.'_

_Karen was due to marry Lyle Finster in twenty minutes, and it made Jack sick. Lyle was the father of Karen's nemesis, Lorraine - the woman Karen's now deceased husband had been cheating with. It sickened Jack that Stanley Walker did that to her. Stan's infidelity had destroyed Karen, and Jack was the one to pick up the pieces and make her strong again, the whole time thinking how he would never do that to her and wanting to kill the fat adulterous bastard that had hurt his Karebear. But nature did Jack's work for him. A few months later, during divorce proceedings, Stanley Walker died of a massive heart attack, and Jack once again found himself cleaning up his mess. Karen was devastated. It had been anger that had made her file for divorce, not a stopping of love._

_Now, little more than a year since Stan had died, Karen was marrying again. Jack was the only one who knew that Karen didn't fully trust men still, and to be honest, Jack didn't fully men around Karen. He didn't trust them not to hurt her. He knew he would never hurt her._

_Karen's marriage lasted an eternity of twenty minutes. She announced she wanted a divorce over the microphone in front of everybody. When she left the hall, Jack followed. Even though she terminated the marriage, she was still upset. She said that she knew she wasn't ready to marry and that she felt guilty for having led Lyle on a merry dance. Jack had always known she wasn't ready to marry, but couldn't tell her for fear she would hate him for doubting her. Nevertheless, he was happy that Karen's marriage never made it past the reception but he would never let anybody know that, and he would never let anybody know why._

---

The next day was shopping day. Going shopping for wedding outfits was tiring business, so Olivia, Grace, Will, Elliot and Mason sat in Central Park. After sitting for a while, they were approached by a clearly gay teenage boy.

'Oh my dog, you know Jack McFarland?'

'Um…kinda.' Will said, more than slightly confused.

'How do you know my dad?' Elliot asked.

'Hello! Just Jack, Jack 2000 and Jack 2001!' The boy explained. 'He's like an idol to me. I better go before my mum starts on the melodramatics.'

As the boy walked away, all five people had shocked and confused expressions on their faces.

'Okay, have I been hallucinating,' Olivia began, 'or did that really happen?'

'I don't think any of us are sure.' Grace answered.

---

After two weeks of rushing around the city trying to find the perfect dress and the perfect venue, the night before Grace's wedding arrived and bit everyone on the ass. Everybody commented on how quickly the time had passed. Even a small-scale wedding required a hell of a lot of planning.

Since they would be going back to Ohio the day after Grace's wedding, Mason, Elliot and Olivia took the day to meet up with friends and catch up. Later on the afternoon, they'd split up to meet with other friends. Olivia met up with some of her dancing friends; Mason met up with some people in his football team and Elliot met up with some of his basketball friends. Olivia headed back to Will's apartment a little earlier. She knew that there was a small party going on. Or at least she thought it was small.

Stepping out of the elevator, Olivia immediately heard loud music and shouting coming from Will's apartment. One word jumped into her head. Alcohol. She walked towards the door, nervous about what she might find inside. When she opened the door, she shook her head.

'For the good of your mental health do not go in there.' Olivia said, as she heard Mason and Elliot step out of the elevator.

'Why?' Elliot asked.

'They have been drinking and they are dancing on Will's coffee table. Need I continue?' Olivia said sarcastically.

'Let's get the hell outta here.' Mason said.

---

Grace and Leo's wedding ceremony was small but beautiful. Only family and close friends were invited. At the reception, Leo made a speech

'I'm not very good at this. But someone who was, was Lord Byron, so I stole this from him. "The light of love, the purity...of grace. The mind, the music breathing from her face, the heart whose softness harmonised the whole. That eye was in itself a soul." To my wife.'

'Aaww.' Olivia said.

'You fake aaww-ing too?' Mason asked quietly.

'Yeah. I did not get that speech.' Olivia answered. 'I still don't like this guy. I'm not exactly sure why.'

'There's something fake about him.' Elliot added.

'Yes, thank you.' Olivia said. 'That's exactly it.'

---

At the cutting of the cake, there was some discussion about how much the newlyweds actually knew about each other.

Leo's mother, Eleanor, decided to try to calm them down. 'Don't worry, Grace. Marvin will fill you in on all the important stuff.'

'That's right, Eleanor.' Grace said. 'Wait, who's Marvin?'

'That's me.' Leo said sheepishly.

'Your name's Marvin?' Grace asked, close to tears.

'Yeah. People call me Leo 'cause… my name's… Marvin.' Leo said. 'Come on, my first wife didn't care about that.'

'You were married before?'

'Okay… bad time to try that joke.' Leo backtracked.

'Uh… I don't think there's a good time to try that joke.' Karen said. 'You're not gonna try that joke, are you?' Karen directed her question at Jack.

'No way.'

'I don't think I can handle this.' Grace said tearfully. 'You're like a stranger to me.'

With that, Grace left the hall. Leo followed her.

---

'When we said we thought he was fake, we think that meant he had a whole other identity.' Olivia noted.

'I know, Liv.' Elliot agreed.

'That was weird.' Karen said.

'I can't believe that Grace walked out.' Jack added.

'Hey.' Leo approached the table that Jack, Karen, the kids and Will were sitting at. 'I caught up with Grace. She said she needed some time to think. I think I'm going to ask everybody to go home.'

'Sure.' Will said.

'Uh…' Leo began as he stood. 'You're not going to like what you're going to hear – '

Leo was then interrupted by Grace's out of tune warbling. '_Please don't let this feeling end, it not might come again, and I want to remember.'_

'Well, at least he warned us.' Mason commented.

---

Grace decided to give Leo and her marriage a chance. The others still weren't sure they liked Leo, but they could all see how happy Grace was. However, each secretly vowed to kick Leo's ass if he hurt her.

---

'Okay, whose idea was it to fly back to Ohio the morning after Grace's wedding?' Karen asked sleepily.

'Yours.' Jack answered.

'Why do you listen to me?'

'I'm not sure.' Jack joked.

---

'You know what's never a good combination,' Mason began, 'partying till late then flying early.'

'Yeah, we kinda got that in the car when you crashed out in the car and started snoring.' Will said.

'I was snoring?'

'Yeah, you sounded like…' Olivia thought for a second. 'I'm too tired to think of something funny and sarcastic.'

'Looks like you guys will have to go, or check-in is going to close without you.' Grace said. 'Thank you for coming to my wedding.'

'Honey, we wouldn't miss it!' Karen said, as hugs were exchanged.

'Are you gonna visit us?' Elliot asked Will and Grace in a child-like manner.

'Duh.' Will answered sarcastically.

'When?' Olivia asked.

'Soon.' Will answered.

'Yeah, because that's an informative answer.' Olivia answered in the same sarcastic tone.

'We promise we're going to visit soon.' Grace said. 'We'll arrange it when you guys get home.'

---

The short spell of good flying experiences came to an abrupt end when the flight to Ohio was delayed. Nobody wanted to fall asleep for fear of missing any details about when their flight would be leaving.

'Huh.' Elliot said drowsily.

'Huh what?' Olivia asked.

'We appear to be missing one father.' Elliot explained. 'Should we go looking for one father?'

'Ach, what the hell.' Olivia said. 'If I stay sitting there for much longer I'm gonna crash out.'

'Let's go.' Mason said, standing up.

---

After a few minutes of sleepy searching, the kids found Jack.

'There is the one missing father.' Mason pointed out sleepily.

'Looking in the window of a ring store.' Olivia said.

'Huh.'

'Elliot, what is with you and that word today?' Olivia snapped. 'Come on, let's go back otherwise we're gonna be sleepwalking.'

'Yeah, let's go.' Mason added.

---

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing this and my other fic:)**

**This chapter is for my dad who was not afraid to bawl his eyes out while watching my musical theatre performance in front of easily two hundred people on Saturday. He says he was crying with pride. It was embarrassing but sweet at the same time. So this one's for you Dad!**


	30. Chapter 30

'You remember how we were talking in the airport a few weeks ago about Will and Grace visiting us?' Karen asked, whilst pouring herself a bowl of cereal.

A chorus of 'yeah' came from the breakfast table.

'Well, Grace just called to say she's got a design job down here and she asked if she could stay here while she's designing the house.' Karen explained. 'And she said that Will's gonna take a couple of weeks of weeks off work to help her.'

'Coolness.' Olivia commented. 'Just one question: How did Grace get a design job here?'

'One of the neighbours was saying that her sister was looking for a designer and I recommended Grace.'

'Fair do's.' Olivia said. 'When are they arriving?'

'Friday evening.'

---

Coincidently, one of the McFarland's neighbours was throwing a birthday party on the Saturday night and had said that Will and Grace could also attend. Since Jack and Karen were making the final preparations for Will and Grace's arrival, it had been left to the kids to find a birthday gift for the neighbour. After school on Friday, the kids headed straight to the mall.

---

'Karen?' Jack said loudly.

'Yeah, honey?' Karen emerged from the hallway.

'I'm going to get some groceries, okay?'

'Sure.' Karen said. 'Be sure to get loads. It _is _Grace Adler that's visiting after all.'

Giving Karen a quick kiss goodbye, Jack said, 'Won't be long.'

---

Leaving the house, Jack felt guilty for having lied. He was going to get groceries, but he hadn't told her what he was really leaving for. Going to get groceries was his excuse, so technically he was lying by omission. He still felt guilty all the same.

At least, when the truth came out, this lie wouldn't hurt.

---

'Why is it always left to us to find gifts for people?' Olivia whined. 'We suck at it!'

'Since we've already ruled out chocolate and gift certificates, what else do either of you suggest?' Mason asked Elliot and Olivia.

'Jewellery.' Olivia suggested. 'Diamonds are a girl's best friend.'

'Liv, stop the singing.'

Olivia pulled a face of annoyance.

'How about we get a mantle ornament?' Elliot suggested.

'Yeah, that's a good idea.' Mason agreed.

'I hear there's some nice ornaments up in that jewellery store.' Olivia said.

'Wanna get something to eat first though?' Elliot suggested.

'Yeah,' Olivia said, 'cause my stomach's talking and it's saying 'feed me''

---

'By the way, Gracie, we're going to some party at Jack and Karen's neighbour's house.' Will said.

'Huh? What kind of party is it?'

'Somebody's birthday party.' Will grimaced. 'Cowboy themed.'

'What… the… hell?' Grace asked.

'Yeah.'

'Where the hell are we going to find cowboy outfits in two days?' Grace whinged. 'Dammit, I knew they'd get me back for having my wedding on such short notice.'

'Well, you certainly asked for that one!'

---

A while later, the kids had munched their lunch and been looking for the present for the neighbour. Whilst looking for the present, something caught their attention, and was now causing them to have a mini debate.

'I'm right!' Olivia proclaimed.

'How do you know that?' Elliot asked. He disagreed with Olivia.

'Because I'm right!'

'I'm sorry, Liv, I agree with Mason.'

'Elliot, I'm right!'

'Olivia, you're probably not.' Mason said.

'Twenty bucks says I'm right.' Olivia bet.

'Deal.' Mason shook Olivia's hand.

---

'Where's the nearest shopping mall?' Will asked.

It was Saturday morning. Will and Grace had arrived the previous night, and were still panicking about getting cowboy/cowgirl outfits for someone's, whom they'd never met, birthday party.

'I'll drive you down there.' Jack offered. 'I need to pick something I ordered yesterday up.'

'What you picking up honey?' Karen asked.

'Erm… erm…' Jack tried to make up an excuse.

Olivia shot Elliot and Mason a smug look.

'Just that gift for the party.'

'I thought the kids got that yesterday.' Karen said, ever so slightly puzzled.

'No, it was out of stock.' Jack lied. 'Isn't that right, kids?' He said sternly, and giving them a look as though to tell them to agree.

'Um… yeah.' All three said nervously.

'Okay, honey.' Karen said, believing the lie. What reason did she have not to? 'I'm going to go to the little newspaper shop down the road. I'll be back later.'

'We might be gone before you get back, so we'll see you later.' Jack said, as Karen left the house.

A few seconds of silence passed.

'Liar, liar, pants on fire!'

Olivia looked up to find everyone staring at her.

'Did I say that out loud?'

'Anyway… are you guys ready to go?' Jack asked Will and Grace.

They both nodded.

'Okay, let my find my keys.' With that Jack left the room.

'I'm right!' Olivia proclaimed. 'I'm right, I'm right, I am right!'

'You're not, you're not, you are not!' Mason said.

'What are you right about?' Grace asked.

'Yeah Liv, what you so wrong about?'

'Will, why are you so pessimistic?' Grace asked sarcastically.

'Mason, I'm actually beginning to think that Olivia could – _could_ – be right.' Elliot admitted.

'Ha!' Olivia said, looking at Mason.

'Right about what?' Grace said, feeling like she was missing out on good gossip.

'Liv seems to think – ' Elliot was cut off by Karen re-entering the house.

'Forgot my purse.' As quickly as Karen entered the house, she left it.

'Okay, got my keys.' Jack said, re-entering the living room. 'Ready to go?'

'Yeah.' Will said.

'I wanna know what you guys are right about.' Grace said quietly, following Will and Jack out of the house.

'I'm right!' Olivia said, laughing to herself.

---

'So how long do you think you guys will need for something for the party tonight?' Jack asked.

'A while.' Will said dryly.

'Why don't we call you when we're finished looking and see where you are?' Grace suggested.

'Okay.' Jack said, already walking away. 'See you later.'

'He's in a hurry to get away.' Will noted.

---

Later on that afternoon, Will, and Grace returned from the mall.

'Get anything to wear for the party?' Olivia asked Will and Grace.

'Yeah.' Will answered. 'By the way, your dad went to pick your mum up from the town.'

'I'm right.' Grace said.

'Grace, as I've said for the last hour, you are not right!' Will protested.

'Yes she is!' Olivia jumped in. 'What are you right about?'

Grace wrote something down on a piece of paper.

'See, told you!' Olivia directed her comment at Mason.

'I'm right.' Grace said.

'Twenty bucks says you're not.' Will challenged.

'Wanna get in on this bet?' Grace asked Olivia.

'I'm already betting Mason.'

'You made a bet without me?' Grace sounded offended.

'You weren't here!'

'Well played Olivia.' Grace said, after a few seconds of thinking.

---

That evening, the McFarlands were waiting on Will and Grace being ready to leave for the party. Although the party was only three houses down the road, it would still take a good few minutes to get to the other house. On the farm, there was a lot of land between each house.

When Will walked into the kitchen, he was greeted with five sets of shocked looks. He was dressed in a full cowboy fancy dress outfit.

'Wow.' Olivia began. 'Where'd you come from, Cotton Eyed 'Mo?'

'What's wrong with my outfit?' Will asked.

'You're dressed like a cowboy!' Jack shouted.

'Yeah. You said it was a cowboy themed party!' Will exuberantly said.

'Yes and by that we meant country music and booze!' Karen said wryly.

'Oh dear…' Olivia slowly said.

'What?' Jack asked.

'Nothing.' Elliot said.

'We just feel sorry for our neighbours.' Mason explained.

'Yeah… 'cause we know what alcohol does to you four.' Olivia added.

'Our poor neighbours don't.' Elliot said.

When Grace entered, she was wearing denim shorts, boots and a checked shirt.

'Okay, your outfit's good enough to get away with.' Karen acknowledged.

'Did you just complement my outfit?' Grace said, sounding truly shocked.

'Aw honey.' Karen began. 'No.'

---

'Fun party last night.' Olivia said, sitting at the breakfast table.

'Wow, look at the rain.' Grace said looking out the window.

'I believe the correct phrase is 'it's peeing it down'.' Elliot observed.

'I wouldn't like to have to go outside in that.' Will stated.

'Unfortunately for Olivia, she has to.' Elliot said smugly.

'How do I have to go out in that?'

'It's your turn to get the mail from the mailbox at the end of the road and walk into town and buy milk and bread.'

'No, Elliot, it's your turn.' Olivia corrected him. 'I went on Friday morning.'

'No, you only went for the mail on Friday morning. Remember we all agreed weeks ago that the next time the bread and milk ran out that you would be the one to go into town.' Elliot tried to inform her.

'Um… no.' Olivia snapped. 'I have no recollection of that agreement whatsoever. You're going. I'm not going out in that rain.'

'Oh, but you are.' Elliot said.

'I'm not!' Olivia whined. 'You are. Although, I'm not sure you're big head's gonna fit through the doors.'

Elliot looked offended. 'Take that back!'

'Go into town.' Olivia contested his request.

'No way!' Elliot

'Then no way am I taking that back.' Olivia said coolly.

As Will, Grace and Mason exchanged baffled looks, Olivia and Elliot started trying to shout over each other.

'Um… does that happen often?' Grace asked Mason.

'Nope. That's the first time.' Mason said, horrified by the scene playing out in front of him.

'Ah, you never forget your first fight with a sibling.' Will said in a reminiscing tone.

'Hey, hey, hey, hey!' Karen shouted while walking into the living room. 'What the hell's going on here?' She asked Elliot and Olivia.

Both tried to talk at the same time.

'One person talking at a time please! Elliot, why don't you begin.'

'Of course, ask _it_ first.' Olivia mumbled under her breath.

'Shut up!' Karen snapped.

Olivia looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She turned to looked at Will, Grace and Mason and mouthed 'Whoa.'

'It's Olivia's turn to get the mail and walk into town and she's trying to say it's my turn.'

'Because it is your turn.' Olivia butted in. 'I went on Friday morning.'

'You know what, I'm gonna clear this up right now. ' Karen said, exasperated. 'Somebody give me a coin. Thank you Grace.' Karen said, when Grace handed her a coin. 'I'm going to keep this by the way.'

'It's yours. I picked it up off of your coffee table.' Grace admitted.

'Okay, one of you call it. One the who gets it wrong is going out in the pouring rain.' Karen said diplomatically.

'But-' Olivia tried to speak.

'No buts about it.' Karen cut her off. 'Are you ready for me to flip the coin?'

'Yeah.' Elliot answered.

'Okay, here goes.' Karen said.

'Heads!' Olivia said.

'It's tails. Olivia, you're walking into town.' Karen said sympathetically.

'Dammit.' Olivia grumbled, as she left to find her coat.

Will and Grace had confused and aghast looks on their faces.

'What?' Karen asked, puzzled at the looks on their faces.

---

A few minutes later, Olivia returned downstairs.

'Has any body seen my wellie boots?' Olivia asked. 'I'll need them for walking down the road. All the rain will have made the whole farm muddy.'

'There in the cupboard under the stairs.' Jack answered.

'Thank you.' Olivia said. As she walked out of the room, she noticed Will and Grace having the same flabbergasted expressions on their faces as earlier. 'What?'

Will and Grace didn't answer. They just stayed with astounded looks on their faces.

'Freaks.' Olivia muttered, leaving the room.

---

When Olivia returned from the shops, she resembled a drowned rat and was shivering.

'Wow.' Mason said. 'You look wet.'

'I hope you feel guilty.' Olivia growled at Elliot. 'Heat. I need some heat.'

'I'll put the fire on.' Karen said.

'It's firetrucking cold out there.'

'Language, Olivia.' Jack scorned.

'I said firetrucking!' She protested.

'I know what that meant and don't let me hear you saying it again.'

'Okay, this is too weird!' Grace yelled. 'You guys are not you anymore!'

'What?' Jack asked, confused.

'Seriously, you're not and I'm freaked out. It's not right! Okay, Mason was line-dancing last night, Karen wasn't drinking, Olivia and Elliot are fighting like brother and sister, Karen is breaking up sibling fights, Jack is telling people off for using fake swear words and Olivia is wearing wellie boots!' Grace yelled.

'Yeah Liv, what's that all about?' Will asked in a calmer tone that Grace had been using.

'I wear my wellies so I don't get my sneakers dirty.' Olivia said apprehensively.

'Why don't you want to get them dirty?' Will asked, as if he was cross-examining someone on a witness stand.

'Because I walk about the house with my sneakers on and I don't want to get mud on the carpet?' Olivia answered in a childish tone.

'And what happens if you get mud on the carpet?' Will continued to interrogate.

Olivia bowed her head. 'My mummy and daddy yell at me.' She answered, acting every bit the shy five year old.

'See! That's what I'm talking about! You're too normal. Normal kids get yelled at when they get mud on the carpet. You three were not normal kids when you moved out here!' Grace said, gesturing and looking at Olivia, Mason and Elliot. 'Living in Ohio has done some weird things to all of you.'

'As crazy as Grace sounded there,' Will began, 'she's right. You've changed. Unlike Crazy Adler over here, I don't think it's a bad thing. And I don't think it's the living in Ohio that has done that.'

'Okay, two things.' Grace began. 'One: never call me Crazy Adler again. I know it's true, just don't ever call me it. Two: I didn't say it was a bad thing! It just freaked me out a little, that's all.'

'Well, you are easily spooked.' Olivia said, her voice still shaking from the cold.

---

In the afternoon, Olivia started feeling a little ill with common cold symptoms.

'I'm sorry honey, we don't have any cold and flu medicine.' Karen said sympathetically. 'We don't even have any paracetomal.'

'She doesn't even have pills!' Grace whined quietly, still slightly freaked out.

'And the pharmacy doesn't open on a Sunday.'

'She knows when the pharmacy opens.' Will pointed out. 'She hasn't changed that much!'

'You're funny Wilma!' Karen retorted dryly.

'And she's still calling me Wilma.' Will added. 'And I'm almost positive that Jack called me Chunky earlier too.'

'Yeah, I did.' Jack confirmed.

'I'm just going to go next door and see if they have any medicine, okay?' Karen said. 'Won't be long.'

As soon as Karen left, Jack started up another conversation. 'Listen, Karen's birthday is soon so I'm going to throw a little diner party here. Do _not _tell her. Will and Grace, you're the only people who are getting an invite.'

'What about us?' Mason questioned.

'You're already gonna be here.' Jack answered.

'So are Will and Grace.' Olivia pointed out.

'Anyway… If you're getting her a present, do _not_ get her jewellery, because that's what I'm getting her.'

'Wait a minute…' Olivia pondered. 'When's Karen's birthday?'

'Saturday.'

'Interesting.' Elliot said.

As Elliot spoke, Grace reluctantly handed Will a twenty dollar bill.

'Thank you.' Will said, a self-righteous tone clear in this voice.

'Mason, I'll pay you twenty bucks… when I get twenty bucks.'

'What's all the money business about?' Jack asked.

'We… just… remembered that we kinda owe each other money.' Grace fibbed.

'Okay then.' Jack replied, not quite believing Grace's answer.

Just then, the phone rang. 'Excuse me.' Jack said, leaving the room.

'Grace, may I steal your 'Told Ya So' dance?' Mason asked smugly.

'No.' Grace barked.

'So girls,' Will began, 'how does it feel to lose?'

'Awful.' Olivia said shamefacedly.

'Aw, are you bad loser?' Mason asked mockingly.

'Piss off Mason!' Olivia shouted.

'What did I say earlier about language?' Jack shouted from another room.

---

'Okay, what are we going to get Karen for her birthday?' Olivia asked, while her, Elliot and Mason sat on the grassy patch at their school.

'Jewellery is out, right Liv?' Mason asked mockingly.

'Mason, enough already! It has been four days. And now we only have three days left to find a freaking present.' Olivia replied angrily.

'Well, booze is out for two reason.' Elliot sighed. 'We're not twenty-one and, more importantly, we don't need to be disturbed any more than we already are.'

'What does that leave?' Mason asked.

'Clothes.' Olivia said.

'Money.' Elliot said.

'Shoes.'

Olivia, Elliot and Mason turned to see someone sitting near them.

'By the way, I've been listening into your conversation.' The person said.

'Okay, two things. We don't know you and we find your eavesdropping incredibly rude.' Elliot said.

'Although…' Olivia said. 'That is probably the best idea I've heard all day. How about I get off of the bus a few stops early and I'll go and buy shoes since shoes are my expertise.'

'Okay dokey.' Elliot said.

'Here.' Mason said. 'Take the twenty bucks you lost.'

'Mason, for the last freaking time, stop rubbing it in!'

---

'I do not like my new client, Mrs Angus!' Grace growled, as she entered the McFarland house. She was on her lunch break.

'What's she doing now?' Will said, not looking up from the newspaper he was reading.

'She's so freaking patronising. God, just because she's like one hundred and two she thinks she can treat me like a child. When she gave me coffee she said, "Careful dear, it's very hot." I went to the bathroom, she said, "Remember to flush dear." I wanted to knock her into next week.' Grace ranted.

'Do you want to knock me into next week when I say that to you?'

'No.' Grace denied. 'Well, sometimes. I like you though.. What I don't like is old women who can't make their minds up on what wall paper pattern they like better. God, just when I'd finished papering the room she decided that she wanted the other pattern.'

'Why didn't you say no because you'd already finished?' Will asked.

'Oh, I tried that but she started on all this respecting your elders crap and doing as your elders tell you.'

'And you listened to her?' Will said, sounding shocked. 'I'm older than you and you never do anything I tell you.'

Grace tapped her fingers on the kitchen tops for a few seconds before talking again. 'Where's Karen? I'm going to wring her neck for recommending me to the devil woman.'

'Luckily for her own safety, Jack took her out for lunch.' Will said.

'Do you know where they are?'

'Sorry, Grace, I don't.' Will apologised. 'They did mention where they were going but the was fondling so I tuned them out.'

Grace sighed. 'Will you please come with me to my job after lunch? Please, please, please? Pretty please with a cherry on the top.'

'Sorry, Gracie, no can do.'

'Why not?' Grace whined.

'Remember we agreed that I would go and get the present for Karen's birthday.'

'Oh yeah.' Grace said. 'Wait, what are we getting her again?'

'Those really pretty wine glasses.'

'Did I see those?'

'No.' Will said. 'You were looking for a burrito.'

'I'm guessing I was hungry then.'

'Gracie, you're always hungry.'

---

'Hey, Liv. You going to that house party on Saturday night?'

'Oh no, I can't. It's my mum's birthday on Saturday so we're having a little party at home.' Olivia answered, as she walked into her home economics classroom.

'Bad news.' A classmate said. 'We're tidying up around in the kitchen classrooms.'

'Oh man, that sucks.'

'Come on kids, it's not that much of a hardship.' The teacher sarcastically said. 'I'm even going to put the radio on.'

'I suppose that makes it less of a hardship.' Olivia grudgingly said.

---

'Seriously, though,' Karen said, 'why did you want to take me out to lunch today?'

'Am I not allowed to my beautiful Karebear out to lunch?' Jack asked jokingly.

'No.' Karen laughed. 'There's gotta be a reason.'

'Very well then.' Jack took on a serious tone that made Karen a little apprehensive. 'How long have we been together?'

'Just under ten months.' Karen answered, a little baffled about where this conversation was heading.

'And those ten months have been the best of my life.' Jack said, trying to stop himself from welling up.

This puzzled Karen even more. This conversation was completely different from any they'd had before. Of course, they'd had discussions about their relationship, albeit small discussions. There seemed to be no need for a long drawn out conversation. Each knew where the other was and how they felt. Or at least Karen thought they'd both known.

'Well, um, lately I've been doing a lot of thinking. You know, a lot of thinking about us.' Nerves could be clearly heard in Jack's voice.

'I'm a little bit afraid of where this is going.' Karen said hesitantly.

'Well…' Jack began.

In all honesty, Jack was terrified too. He'd tried to prepare himself for this, work out what he was going to say. Now, everything that he had geared himself up to say was just a big jumble in his head. There was so much resting on the outcome of the next few minutes, and that scared the hell out of him.

'Well… I don't think you really need to be scared.'

'Um… yeah. I kinda think I do.'

'No, Karen, you really don't. The only reason I need to be nervous is because this is probably the biggest thing I'll ever do in my life.'

'I… uh…' Karen uttered.

'Please don't stop me. I've just got it all untangled in my head. Okay, so I'm just gonna make the most important question I'll ever ask in my life short and sweet.'

'Oh… my god.' Karen said as Jack knelt down before her.

'Karen, will you marry me?'

---

'_And now for some requests.' _The DJ's voice drifted out of the radio speakers.

'The requests are the my favourite part of the radio programme.' Olivia said to herself.

'Why are you talking to yourself?' A classmate asked.

'I just feel like it.'

'Olivia Walker, would you mind going along to the Music department and hand back these CDs back?' The teacher asked.

'Okay.'

---

'Hey. What are you guys doing here? I thought you had CDT?' Olivia asked Elliot and Mason.

'We were supposed to have CDT now.' Mason answered grudgingly.

'Somehow we ended up here tidying up the music classroom.' Elliot answered in the same tone as Mason. 'At least we're getting to listen to the radio.'

'Do the teachers have something with tidying today? That's I'm having to do in Home Ec.' Olivia complained. 'I'm also getting to listen to the radio.'

Just then, an all too familiar song started playing.

_I can't read the future_

_But I still want to hold you close_

_Right now, I need that from you  
So give me the morning  
Sharing another day with you  
Is all I want to know_

'Roughly four months freedom we got from that song.' Elliot said

'I'm surprised it took so long for that song to start stalking us in Ohio.' Mason added

Olivia shrugged. 'I gotta get back to my class. See you in Spanish in… hmm… twenty minutes.'

_And baby I've tried to forget you  
But the light of your eyes  
Still shines like an Angel  
A spirit that won't let me go_

Olivia walked back into her Home Ec class singing.

'What's with you? What's with the singing?'

'I just know that song.' Olivia answered her classmate.

'Olivia, could you do me another favour? Could you put this big box of flour on top of that cupboard.' The teacher asked again.

Olivia looked at the height of the cupboard. 'How tall do you think I am?'

'Stand on a chair.' The teacher sarcastically answered.

'Okay, but if I fall, I'll be suing you.' Olivia said, climbing onto a chair.

'And if you don't mind me asking, how would you be able to sue me?'

'My uncle's a lawyer.' Olivia smugly answered. 'I'd be able to sue you easily.'

_  
And I, I didn't want to tell you  
Things I didn't wanna know myself  
I was afraid to show  
But you gave me a reason  
A reason to face the truth, oh yes you did  
To face the truth, face the truth  
Face the truth_

'Miss Adler, here is your cup of coffee.'

'Thank you, Mrs Angus.' Grace replied politely. 'Now, are you sure on this carpet? I don't want to completely fit the carpet for you to decide a couple of days later that you don't like it. I can pull the carpet up now if you're not sure. It's only really lying there just now. '

'Yes dear, I'm sure I want that carpet.' Mrs Angus said, leaving the room. 'Oh, and be careful dear. That coffee is very hot.'

And baby I've tried to forget you  
But the light of your eyes  
Still shines, shines, shines like an Angel  
A spirit that won't let me go  
Won't let me go, let go of my heart

Will stood in a queue in the crystal shop. You'd think after paying for something, you'd get it straight away, but no. Will had to wait while the wine glasses he'd ordered arrived from another store so he'd decided to take a wander around the other shops nearby. In that time, the shop had become really busy, so now he had to wait in a huge queue. Thank God for the radio.

'Order number fourteen?' The cashier shouted.

Will checked his ticket.

Finally, no more waiting in a queue.

_And baby I've tried to forget you  
But the light of your eyes  
Still shines like an Angel  
A spirit that won't let me go  
Won't let me go, my Angel_

'Olivia, for the last time, stop singing!' A classmate yelled.

'Was I singing the whole time?'

'Yeah.'

'Oh well.' Olivia answered. 'How many more big tubs of flour do I need to lift up here?'

'Quite a few.' Another classmate answered.

'Pass me the next one up please.' Olivia said.

'And that song was played for Karen Walker and Jack McFarland who are celebrating their engagement today. Congratulations and best of luck to them.'

'What the fu-' Olivia said. She was cut off when she fell from the chair she was standing on, spilling the nearly full tub of floor she had been holding above her head in an attempt to place it on top of the cupboard. The floor went everywhere, causing Olivia to have a coughing fit.

'She's going to get her uncle to sue me, isn't she?' The teacher said.

---

'Elliot and Mason, could you two move the piano over to the other side of the classroom?' The teacher asked.

'Okay.' Both answered.

'And that song was played for Karen Walker and Jack McFarland who are celebrating their engagement today. Congratulations and best of luck to them.'

Elliot and Mason instantly dropped the piano. Unfortunately, it was onto their toes.

'Son of a bitch, that hurt!' Elliot shouted.

'Ouch! My toes!' Mason screamed. 'You'd think Mum and Dad would warn us before they did that to make sure we didn't drop stuff on our toes!'

---

Grace decided to take a little break before finally fitting the carpet. She took a swig of her coffee.

'And that song was played for Karen Walker and Jack McFarland who are celebrating their engagement today. Congratulations and best of luck to them.'

Grace spat our her coffee causing it to spray all over the carpet.

'Um… Mrs Angus… are you sure you want this carpet?' Grace shouted nervously.

---

'We're sorry about the long wait.' The cashier apologised while handing over the box of wine glasses.

'It's no problem.' Will said with fake sincerity. 'Thank you very much.' He added, as he began to walk out of the store.

'And that song was played for Karen Walker and Jack McFarland who are celebrating their engagement today. Congratulations and best of luck to them.'

Will accidentally dropped the box wine glasses.

The whole store seemed to freeze with fright as all of the glasses smashed.

Will winced before turning around to face the cashier. 'I may need to order another set of those.'

---

'Okay… we just had the weirdest CDT lesson ever.' Elliot said, seeming a little freaked out.

'And the most painful lesson.' Mason added.

'How?' A classmate asked.

'We dropped a piano on our feet.' Mason said.

'The piano is nothing compared to the radio!' Elliot commented.

'Elliot, I wonder if Liv knows.' Mason said.

'And if she does, I wonder how she reacted.'

Just then, Olivia entered the classroom. She was covered from head to toe in flour. Her dark green uniform was now nearly all white. She was also hopping into the class.

'I'm guessing you heard the request then.' Mason said.

'Oh my god!' Olivia said.

'What the hell happened to you?' Elliot asked.

'I fell off of a chair, chucked flour all over myself and ended up with a swollen ankle. Hopping down here from Home Ec was not fun.' Olivia said, while taking her seat. 'By the way, I want my money back Mason.'

'What money?' Mason asked, sounding genuinely confused.

'The money I lost because I lost the bet?' Olivia tried to explain.

'Oh that money.' Mason said in a realising tone.

'I want it back.'

'Why?'

'Because I think you'll find that I won the bet.' Olivia said, starting to get a little annoyed.

'Yeah, you're right.' Mason surrendered.

'Wow… what a weird day.' Elliot said.

'I know.' Mason said. 'It's almost as if we're leaving school today with a different family set-up than we entered school with.'

Olivia, Elliot and Mason sat in deep thought for a few minutes.

'I told you Grace and I were right!' Olivia said, laughing.

---

**A/N: Well, there you are! I hope you enjoy! Thank you for reviewing Pam!!! Could everybody who reads review please? I'd really like to know what you all think! Enjoy! Mars x**


	31. Chapter 31

2AM. The time you'd least expect to be awoken by the sound of people being intimate. But in this household… anything was possible.

Mason rubbed his eyes sleepily as he walked towards his bedroom door. Flicking his light switch to on, he winced at the sudden change of dark to light. Now adjusted to the light, he opened his bedroom door to find Elliot also standing in the hall outside his bedroom door.

'Do you think they're loud enough?' Elliot asked. Even while tired, sarcasm came so easily.

'No, I think they should be louder.' Mason used the same tone.

Elliot seemed confused. 'Seriously?'

Mason shook his head his head forcefully.

'Thank God because I heard that sleep is good for you.'

Mason laughed slightly. He and Elliot kept looking towards Olivia's bedroom door, expecting her to appear within seconds. Minutes later, she hadn't shown and Elliot and Mason were still standing in the hallway. There was no sign of movement in Olivia's room. No lights being switched on. No sign of life.

'Do you think it's weird that Olivia doesn't seem to have been woken up, yet her bedroom is actually right next to Jack and Karen's room?' Elliot asked amidst a yawn.

Mason nodded. 'Do you think we should check it out?'

Elliot looked horrified.

'You have a sick, sick mind.' Mason said, sounding disgusted. 'I meant should we check why Olivia isn't awake?'

This time Elliot nodded as he quietly opened Olivia's door. 'Liv?' He said quietly. 'You awake?'

As Mason entered Olivia's bedroom also, he couldn't help but notice the difference in volume between here and the hall. Well, it was difficult to miss. 'There's no way she could sleep through that.' Mason whispered. 'She's a light sleeper.'

As Elliot and Mason tiptoed nearer Olivia's bed, they noticed that she was indeed sleeping. Her hair was covering most of her face, but from what Elliot and Mason could see she looked peaceful, still. Too still.

Mason looked round and Elliot. 'Do you think she's dead?'

'Liv? Liv, wake up!' He tried to gently shake her awake, but she didn't react. 'Liv!' He said more loudly as she shook her more aggressively. 'Uh, Mase? She ain't waking up.'

'Well, try shouting at her.' Mason suggested.

'Shout at the same time?'

'Okay.' Mason answered. 'Count of three?'

Elliot nodded.

'Okay. One. Two. Three.' Mason counted.

'Wake up Liv!' They shouted simultaneously.

No response.

'Okay, now is when we should start panicking.' Mason said.

Elliot started shaking Olivia more violently. 'Liv, Liv for the love of God wake up. Don't make us have to go through there.' He said, gesturing to the room next door.

As Elliot continued shake Olivia violently, she started to wake up. She mumbled incoherently, and rubbed her eyes tiredly before opening them to see Mason and Elliot staring at her.

'I have to ask, how can you sleep through that?' Elliot asked Olivia, once again gesturing to the other room.

Olivia looked at him, a blank expression on her face. She pulled her hair behind her ears, revealing an earplug in each of her ears. She took them out of her ears delicately.

'What?'

'Never mind.' Elliot said. 'Got any more of those?'

Olivia pointed to her nightstand. 'In the drawer.'

'Thank you so much!' Mason said enthusiastically.

'Um… they're fluorescent pink.' Olivia noted.

'We don't care!' Mason said, as he looked in the drawer. 'Damn it Liv, how many sets of earplugs do you need?'

'Oh that's six months worth of collecting.' Olivia answered. 'I've just grabbed handfuls of them whenever I've seen them since Jack and Karen got engaged. Speaking of whom, damn are they loud!' Olivia said, looking at the wall as if she could see through it.

'What?' Elliot and Mason asked concurrently. They had both put earplugs in.

'Never mind.' Olivia put her own earplugs in. 'Goodnight.'

'Night.' Mason and Elliot said, heading out of Olivia's room.

---

'The orchids are nice. But will they go with the bridesmaid's dresses? Maybe I should go with the roses. Or should I go with tulips? Or the lilies? No, the tulips. But the lilies are beautiful too. But so are the roses.' Karen muttered while flicking between several different bridal magazines.

Olivia and Elliot were both sitting at the table listening to Karen's rambling. Both had extremely bored looks on their faces. Olivia had her elbows on the table and was resting her head in her hands.

'You know those earplugs that were so effective last night?' Elliot asked Olivia quietly as Karen continued to babble on.

'Uh-huh.'

'Do you think they'd work for this insane monkey-like chattering?'

'Anything's worth a shot.' Olivia said, standing up and heading towards the stairs.

'Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going?' Karen said, noticing Olivia leaving. 'I need your help!

'I need … to… pee.' Olivia hesitantly lied. 'You are gonna let me go pee, aren't you?'

Karen sighed. 'Go.'

Olivia wasted no time in running up the stairs, and Karen immediately went back to her chattering.

Elliot looked heavenward. 'Please. Kill me now.' He said quietly.

'And I've also got to find hotels for everybody. And then I've got to pay for them all because I can't ask people from New York to travel all this way then expect them to pay for their own hotel room. It's not like I can out them all up in here.' Karen said so quickly, she was nearly joining her words together.

'I hate to state the obvious but wouldn't it be for five people to travel to New York for a wedding than for holy cow knows how many people to travel to Ohio for a wedding?' Elliot suggested sounding fed up.

'Elliot, what the hell are you saying?'

Elliot rolled his eyes. 'Wouldn't it be easier for everybody if you and Jack got married in New York? Speaking of whom, where is he? Why does he get to skip this torture? It is his wedding!' Elliot complained. 'Also, where the hell is Mason?'

'Hold that thought.' Karen said, reaching for the phone.

'The 'where the hell is Mason' thought?'

As Elliot spoke, Karen was dialling a number. 'Hi, Gracie honey. I need you to do me a favour. Yeah honey, before you come down here in a couple of weeks I need you to find me some information about some good places to get married in New York. Thanks honey. See you soon!'

Olivia re-entered the kitchen holding two sets of earplugs just as Karen hung up the phone.

'Whadid I miss?' Olivia said, tossing Elliot a set of earplugs.

'Not a lot.' Elliot answered. 'By the way, Grace is apparently visiting in a few weeks.'

'I'm gonna need some more earplugs.' Olivia said, shrugging.

---

Karen entered the spare room (otherwise known as the random crap room) carrying a loaded laundry basket. The random crap room was filled with, well, random crap. The washing machine and tumble dryer were in this room, along with other clothes-related appliances. There were also some unpacked boxes in the corner of the room. Those boxes were marked 'F.R.'. Everybody in the house knew the boxes were there, but nobody spoke of them. Mason once asked why the boxes were still packed a couple of months after they had moved. Karen had answered immediately without even thinking, 'I'll get around to it eventually.' 'Eventually' had become more than a year, and 'eventually' seemed more and more like never. Loading the laundry into the washing machine, Karen wondered why she'd bothered keeping the things she'd bought for the Forbidden Room all those years ago. Maybe it was just hope that she would still get around to it eventually.

In that same room was the shared computer, which Jack was using. Karen walked over to her fiancé, wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. 'Whatcha doing, honey?'

Jack clasped one of Karen's hands in his. 'I'm just looking up my family tree'

Karen shot him a quizzical look. 'What?'

'Well, I was speaking to my mum and I realised that I don't know squat about my family. I didn't even know who my grandparents were. So, I asked my mum about them, and being the self-involved narcissist that she is-'

Karen nodded. 'Well, yeah.'

Jack laughed at Karen's remark while she shrugged. 'She said she didn't know anything about them so I'm going to trace my ancestors myself.'

'That's really cool honey.' Karen said. 'You found out anything interesting yet?'

Jack shook his head. 'Not yet. But I'll get there.'

'Yeah honey.' Karen said, standing back up from her hunched position. She headed towards the door. 'You'll get there.' Karen sighed as she walked out of the room. Standing in the doorway, Karen turned around and looked solemnly at the boxes in the corner of the room. 'Do you think we'll ever get to unpack those boxes?'

Jack looked round to the boxes and then turned to Karen and smiled. 'Someday.'

---

Three weeks later, Grace arrived in Ohio. Within minutes of arriving she was terrified.

'Here,' Olivia said, 'take these.' Olivia handed Grace some earplugs.

'What?' Grace asked, confused.

'Trust me honey,' Olivia explained, 'you'll need 'em.'

---

Most kids hated school. Right now, Olivia, Elliot and Mason were not most kids.

'Dude! It's school!' A classmate said aghast. 'How is it possible to like school?'

'Oh it's possible.' Mason said. 'You try listening to things to do with weddings non-stop for the last six months, then you'll find it incredibly possible.'

Meanwhile Olivia was looking at the room's notice board, intently studying a poster on the wall.

'Liv, what you looking at?' Elliot asked.

'I'm taking note of any study groups or sports clubs or any sort of extra-curricular group that keeps me away from home.' Olivia answered. 'In other words, anything that keeps me away from wedding discussions. Or anything to do with the weddings in general.'

'Didn't you say your Aunt Grace was visiting?' A classmate answered. 'Maybe that'll calm wedding talk down for a while.'

'Grace is here to help my mum and dad plan the wedding.'

'Ah.' The classmate said. 'Maybe not.'

A random thought popped into Olivia's head. 'We have RE first, don't we?'

Elliot and Mason both nodded.

'That means we're in this classroom first period, doesn't it?'

Again, Elliot and Mason nodded.

'Okay, good stuff.'

The bell to signify changing of classes rang and the rest of the RE class entered the classroom as others in the homeroom class left.

'Today class,' the teacher announced, 'we're going to be learning about the way people of different cultures conduct wedding ceremonies.'

Olivia put her head on her desk with a bang. 'Ouch.'

---

Grace sat at the kitchen table of the McFarland house, wishing she didn't have to help plan Jack and Karen's wedding. She resented having to help. She wasn't unhappy for jack and Karen, she just wished she could be anywhere but here. Tapping her fingers on the kitchen table, Grace sat staring into space, lost in her own little world. She snapped back into reality when Karen put a mug of coffee down in front of her. She thanked Karen before taking a sip.

'Hmm, Karen, this has sugar in it.' Grace said.

'Sorry honey, I must have given you mine.'

Grace furrowed her brows in confusion. She took another sip of the coffee. 'Since when did you start drinking coffee without Bailey's?'

Karen shrugged. 'I can't remember. I discovered that coffee tastes better without it.'

Grace looked at Karen, then at the coffee mug, then back at Karen, a dumbfounded expression on her face. 'Seriously?'

'Seriously.' Karen nodded. 'Now, onto the important stuff. What info did you get for me?''

'Everything I found out is on this pad of paper.' Grace said. 'Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to make a call.' Grace added, digging her phone out of her pocket and entering the living room.

'Sure thing, honey.' Karen said, her eyes never leaving the pad of paper she was looking at. Something caught her attention. Continuing to read down the page, she wasn't sure that was she was looking at could be correct. '16th of July in St Patrick's Cathedral?' Karen muttered to herself. 'That can't be right. It's the 27th of April now. Dammit, I knew I shouldn't have trusted Grace to find out valuable information. The only thing you can trust Grace to find information on is food!' Karen laughed hysterically at her own joke before looking back down at the sheet. 'Oh good, there's a phone number here.' She said, grabbing the phone and muttering the phone number as she dialled. She grunted as she was put in a queue to be answered. 'If one of the people in front of me get the 16th of July, I am going to kick some serious a- oh hello.' Karen was answered more quickly than expected. 'Uh, I'm calling about the space for a wedding on the 16th of July. That can't be right, can it? You're kidding right?' Karen discussed the date and exchanged details with the person on the other end of the phone. 'Yeah, we could get to New York easily. Yeah, so could we provisionally book that date? Okay, thank you very much. Goodbye.' Karen hung up the phone and muttered to herself, 'Wait, did that just happen?' She giggled to herself as she lifted her coffee mug to take a drink before realising that her mug was empty. She flicked the kettle to boil then picked up Grace's coffee mug, noticing that it was also empty. 'Grace, would you like another coffee?' Receiving no answer, Karen went through to the living room think Grace hadn't heard her. 'Grace honey-' Karen noticed that

Grace was sobbing. 'Honey what's wrong?' She sat down beside Grace and handed her a tissue.

'Well, about a month and a half after Leo and I were married, Doctors Without Borders sent Leo to Cambodia to help set up a clinic there.' Grace said through light sobs.

'Aw. That sucks honey.' Karen said sympathetically. 'How long is he going to be away for?'

'He was supposed to be getting back in a couple of weeks,' Grace sighed, 'but he just said he wasn't getting back for another few months yet. He volunteered to stay down there for a while longer, which really sucks. And he didn't even discuss it with me.'

'Well, that's not good.' Karen said. 'What did you say about it?'

Grace scoffed. 'Nothing. What's the point? He's a million miles away.'

'So you're just going to sit miserable at home while he's away _saving the world_?' Karen asked with sarcasm.

'What else am I supposed to do?'

'Well, you could verbally kick his ass. Tell him that he should discuss those sorts of things with you first. Tell him that those decisions affect you too.'

'Damn, I hate you.' Grace said.

Karen looked round, shocked by Grace's statement. 'What? Why?'

'Because you are too damn right.'

'Hey. I'm just talking from experience. It took me four marriages to finally figure out that men… suck.'

'This coming from the woman who is getting married in… soon.'

'Okay, most men suck.' Karen laughed, unknowingly twisting her engagement ring round her finger. 'And you can only learn from your mistakes, huh honey?'

'Yeah I guess.'

'Now, what are going to do?'

'I am going to verbally kick his ass.' Grace proclaimed proudly.'

'Attagirl.'

---

'My head hurts.' Olivia whined.

'That's why you don't smack it down a hard table!' Elliot snapped.

'Oh shut up you!'

'Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to witness a cat fight.' Mason announced sarcastically.

'You shut up as well!'

'Okay, Liv. Might I suggest you take a chill pill?' Mason asked.

'No, you may not.' Olivia barked. 'But you may offer me a painkilling pill.'

'Speaking of pills, have either of you two noticed that there are less and less pills in the house?' Elliot asked Mason and Olivia, who thought for a couple of minutes.

'Now that you mention it, yeah.' Olivia answered.

Mason nodded. 'Yeah, I've noticed that the medicine cabinet has been gradually emptying.'

'Hmm… the alcohol cabinet has emptying gradually too.' Olivia noted.

'Why have you been going into the alcohol cabinet?' Elliot questioned.

Olivia looked at Elliot who was sitting to her left, and then to Mason who was sitting on her right and smiled innocently at each. 'No reason.'

'Is there a reason we're sitting out on the front porch?' Mason asked.

'The door is locked and none of us have keys.' Elliot answered.

'Whose bright idea was it not to take keys to school today?' Mason asked.

Elliot raised his eyebrows. 'Well, since you're in charge of making sure we can get into the house at the end of the school day, I'm gonna say it was _your_ bright idea.'

'Damn.'

Olivia stood up and attempted to look through the pane of glass on the door. 'Somebody should be in.' She knocked on the door.

'Oh good, try that.' Elliot said sarcastically. 'I hadn't thought of that.'

'Shut up.' Olivia said, as she walked round to the back of the house.

Elliot furrowed his brows. 'How many times have you said that today? Is that like your new favourite saying or something?'

'Shut up.'

'Well I would take that as a yes.' Mason said. 'What the hell is she going to do?'

'Well, this _is_ Olivia we're talking about so… whatever it is it's likely to cause some form of injury.'

When Mason and Elliot walked round to the back of the house, they saw Olivia standing on a piece of garden furniture knocking on another window.

'That chair does not look stable.' Mason stated. 'Liv, what are you doing?'

'Grace is sitting in the kitchen but she's completely ignoring me.'

'Are you knocking hard enough?' Elliot asked.

Olivia sighed. 'If I was knocking any harder then the window would be on the kitchen floor in pieces!'

'Good point.' Mason said.

Olivia kept knocking on the window. The outdoor table she was standing on began to shake.

'Uh, Liv? Don't you think you should get down from there?' Mason asked. 'That table's going to collapse.'

'Oh, too late.' Elliot said as the table did indeed collapse causing Olivia to fall and scream piercingly on her way down.

'Why do I keep hurting myself today?' Olivia asked herself.

'Because you're a clumsy idiot.' Elliot said, helping her up.

Olivia stood up, dusted herself off then looked up at the window to see Grace looking out of it, a confused expression on her face. Olivia sighed, and signalled Grace to go round to the front door.

'Well at least your injury's gonna be worth something.' Mason giggled briefly until Olivia shot him an evil look that told him to stop. 'By the way, you've ripped a hole at the knee in your school tights.'

'Aw, dammit!' Olivia said, as she walked towards the now open door. 'What the hell took so long to open the door? I was knocking on the window for ages!'

Grace pulled earplugs from her ears. 'I don't know what you just said, but I'm guessing from your expressions that it was something to do with how long it took me to open the door and all I'm gonna say is I had these things in.' Grace said. 'You were right Liv. I needed 'em .'

'And all I'm gonna say is welcome to our world.' Olivia said. 'You've finally arrived.'

'Hmm… that's odd.' Elliot said.

'What is?' Grace and Olivia asked at the same time.

'I don't hear anything.' Elliot added.

'Did anybody see this?' Mason asked, picking up a note on the mantle.

'No.' Elliot, Grace and Olivia answered simultaneously.

'_Gone to get groceries. Be back later. J and K.' _Elliot read the note.

'So how long ago did you put those earplugs in?' Olivia asked Grace.

'I put them in … I started reading my book…' Grace said thoughtfully. 'I have absolutely no idea.'

'But did they work?' Mason asked.

'Totally.'

---

_Everyone's buzzing about in a hurry, all of us fighting to get to the front. I'm not sure why everyone else is in such a rush; I just know that I'd like to get out of here quickly. It feels like a hundred degrees in here. It seems this airport doesn't have functioning air conditioning. We've already been standing here for close to twenty minutes and it seems as if we're still going to be here in another twenty at least. The cases are just beginning to make their way round the conveyor belt now. Mason is looking for better space closer to the conveyor belt but he seems to be unsuccessful. I didn't think he'd find another space – we were later getting here than everyone else- but it is always worth a shot. Elliot has also disappeared somewhere into the crowd. I think he's managed to worm his way into the row closest to the conveyor belt. I hope he'll be able to lift them off then worm his way back into the crowd. I look up to the chairs where Karen and Olivia are. Olivia took really ill on our plane down here. All of a sudden she just started vomiting extremely violently. It sounded as if she was trying to throw up her insides. That seems mild compared to how she is now. She's been deteriorating quickly; she was barely conscious for the last hour and a half of the flight. Now she's lying along a few of the airport chairs, and even from down here she doesn't look good. She looks worse than bad. Karen is saying something to her, but I can't make out what. She checks Liv's temperature with the back of her hand and I can tell by the face Karen pulls that it's not good. She looks away from Olivia for a second and catches my gaze. She looks so worried and scared. I want to hug her and tell her it will all be okay, but I'm not going to lie. I don't know it will all be okay. I nod to her then tear myself away from her tear-filled eyes. Mason is approaching with one of our five suitcases. I tell him to take the suitcase up to where Karen is and tell him to ask how Olivia is. I doubt I'll get an honest answer – Karen will probably try to shield Mason from the brutality – but I just have to ask. Mason returns to the conveyor belt area and tells me Karen says Liv's not too bad, just sleeping now. I know she's lying. Mason goes back to where he was standing beside the conveyor belt and within seconds he's back with another suitcase. I tell him to do the same again, but instead of returning, he stays up there. Karen comes down here instead. As she walks down here she starts sobbing – it breaks my heart. She stands beside me and I put an arm around her and wipe a tear from her cheek. 'How is she?' I ask, hoping to get an honest answer._

'_Really, really ill,' Karen answers. _

_I already know this. I pull Karen in for a comforting hug; she needs it._

'_When I came down here, she was starting to come round a little.' _

'_That's good,' I say. I look up to see Olivia propping herself up on her elbow, talking to Mason. I'm pretty sure she's shaking on her elbow. I wouldn't have thought she'd have enough strength in her to prop herself up like that. 'See, she's sitting up talking to Mason.'_

_Karen looks round at Olivia and Mason then seems to be looking for someone else. 'Where's the other kid?'_

'_Over there.' I point to where Elliot is standing. Karen wanders over there and I hear her say, 'You need a hand kiddo?'_

I look back up to the airport chairs where Mason and Olivia are. What the hell? Olivia's standing up and walking. I'm confused. I thought she'd been told to stay lying down. I give Mason an evil look, but I'm not sure why. It's not anything to do with Mason that Liv got up. I know Liv – she can be a persistent little bugger when she wants to be. Karen has noticed that Liv is up and she shoots me the 'what the hell' look. I don't know what the hell. I concentrate on trying to find our suitcases while Karen questions Olivia about why she is up. Olivia says she was bored up there but she's fine to stay down here for a little while. Karen tries to tell her to go back to the chairs and lie down, but Liv puts a fight. 

'_Honey, are you sure you're okay?' I hear Karen ask Liv. 'You look worse than you did a few minutes ago and your temperature has risen since the last time I checked it.'_

_I hear no answer from Liv. 'Olivia, are you su-' There's a loud beeping and I turn to see what it is. The conveyor belt has broken down. Sod's law, I think. The one time you want to be out of somewhere quickly everything seems to go wrong. I'm busy concentrating on the conveyor belt, when I ignore a slight tug at my jacket. I presume it's nothing. I fell another tug at my jacket and this time I turn around in what feels like slow motion. It seems now everything is in slow motion. Olivia is collapsing in slow motion. Once I catch her, everything speeds up to a normal pace. 'What the-?' I think, not sure whether I've said it aloud. _

'_What the hell has happened?' Karen shrieks. 'What's wrong with her?'_

'_I think she's just passed out, that's all.' I don't know who I'm trying to convince._

'_Are you sure?' Karen continues to shriek._

'_No,' I say, starting to panic._

_Karen descends into hysterics. 'What do you mean no?'_

'_She's not breathing,' I say, trying to keep myself calm. I look up for a second. Mason and Elliot look completely shocked and terrified. As much as I want to stay calm for them and for Karen right now, it just wasn't going to happen. 'For God sake, SHE'S NOT BREATHING!'_

Jack woke with a start. He was wide-awake, but rather confused and dazed. That had seemed too real. He cleared the gunk away from his eyes then looked around the room, hoping to find some relief from his confusion. He turned his head to the right, and saw Karen sleeping: completely out for the count.

'That had to be a nightmare.' Jack said, lying back down and settling back to sleep.

_I didn't realise it was New Year's Eve until somebody wished me Happy New Year in the corridor. It's not like I've been paying attention to what date or even day it is. I haven't really been paying attention to anything outside of Olivia's hospital room._

_This week has been hell. Waiting is hell. Waiting for an ambulance to arrive at the airport was hell. Olivia had stopped breathing; her temperature was dropping; she was starting to turn blue and there was nothing, absolutely nothing, I could do to stop it. I felt totally helpless. In the hospital waiting for news –that was hell. Three hours, not having a freaking clue what is going on. I'm not sure which was worse – waiting in the hospital or waiting on the ambulance. At least while waiting for the ambulance I could see what was going on and I could find someway of telling Karen, Mason and Elliot that everything would be okay. Waiting in the hospital I couldn't see what was going on. When we finally got news, I sort of wished the doctor had never told us anything. The doctor told us a week ago that Olivia was extremely ill. Deathly ill. Lucky if she lives ill. When you wish for news, you wish for the good news. Well, there was no good news. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Well, I guess the good news could have been seen as the fact Liv wasn't dead. Yet. But when you're basically told that your daughter's going to die, you really do become a glass half empty kind of person. We were told to wait for any improvement and pray for the best. We've prayed for the best, but there's been not even a minute improvement. And now it seems the waiting has to come to an end. A short while ago a doctor asked us to consider turning Olivia's life support machine. He said there wouldn't be any improvement after this length of time._

_It sounds awful, but really wish that it could all just be over. It's inevitable, so I wish we could just turn the machine off now. I can't take any more of this. I can't take any more of Karen's aimless pacing. I can't take any more of Elliot and Mason's constant silence. They haven't said a word since…yeah. I can hardly blame them – they're in shock too- but their silence is painful. I can't blame Karen for her aimless pacing. She not thinking about how irritating the unremitting clip-clop-ing of her heels is for us and the rest of the people here. She's just thinking about how she's going to lose her only daughter, very possibly within a matter of hours. Now what we're waiting on is the doctor to up come up here and turn the machine off._

_It was weird. There was no big discussion about what the doctor had said - no big discussion about the fact that Olivia was effectively dead. It was –still is- keeping her breathing. She's not alive though. She's not Liv. Liv makes jokes and smart-ass comments. Liv dances around for no reason and sings random songs at the top of her lungs. If she could see herself now, she'd laugh at the hospital robe she is wearing because that's who Olivia is. Was. The Olivia we've grown accustomed to in the last week- the unconscious, silent, frozen Olivia- isn't who she was. As awful it seems, to me Olivia died when she collapsed in the airport because she was never her after that point. She was never awake, she was never alive. Turning off the life support machine makes it… official._

_I am looking down at the floor when Karen's constant heel clicking suddenly stops. I look up and Olivia's doctor and a nurse are standing right in front of her and I know it's going to happen now. The inevitable is going to happen within a matter of minutes. Suddenly, I don't know anything. I don't know what's going to happen immediately after the machine is switched off. I don't know how Karen and Mason and Elliot are going to be after. I just don't know anything._

_As the doctor and nurse lead the four of us into Olivia's room, it is quiet. Too quiet. The only noise is the sound from the machine that will keep Liv breathing, only for the next few minutes. I notice the doctor look at Mason then Elliot then Karen with some sort of sympathetic look. Then he looks at me with a weird 'you going to need to look after them' kind of look. Like I'm not going to do that anyway? The doctor looks round one more time before switching the life support off. The machine monitoring Olivia's heartbeat and the like starts to make a continuous beeping sound. The doctor says that means she's gone now. He switches the monitor off and exits the room, leaving the nurse in here._

_The next few minutes are surreal. Empty. There's no big reaction. No wailing. Nothing. Just shock. Just… disbelief. I look around. Karen, Mason, Elliot- they're all staring at nothing. Just staring, vacant expressions. The nurse clears her throat. I'm the only one who seems to hear it. I look her in the eye and nod, and she pulls the white sheet over Olivia's head._

---

It was unusually calm at the breakfast table. There were sheets of paper, textbooks, catalogues, magazines and jotters scattered all over it, but in terms of noise it was peaceful.

'How long do you think it will be before Olivia comes running down the stairs and the calm gets shot to hell?' Elliot asked, before taking a bite of his toast.

'Three. Two. One.' Mason counted down.

As predicted, Olivia came running down the stairs and into the kitchen dressed in her school uniform.

'Uh… morning Liv.' Mason said, trying to stop himself from giggling.

'Do not talk to me.' Olivia went to pour herself a glass of juice. 'Who drank the last of the Tropicana?'

'I did.' Mason answered.

'Jackass.' Olivia snapped.

'Uh… what's up with you?' Elliot asked.

'My alarm didn't go off and now I'm going to school with Grace hair!' She yelled pointing to her rather frizzy hair.

'It's Saturday.' Elliot said.

Olivia cocked her head to the side. 'Huh?'

'The reason your alarm didn't go off,' Elliot began, 'is because it's Saturday.'

'So I got up and put my school uniform on for no reason?'

'Yeah.' Elliot and Mason said simultaneously.

'Aw dammit.' Olivia grumbled, slumping into a chair.

'Morning!' Grace sung, walking in the kitchen. 'Whoa… Nice hair Liv.'

'Oh, like you can talk!' Olivia retorted.

Grace nodded. 'Well played.'

'Morning kids.' Karen said breezily, entering the kitchen.

'There's no orange juice.' Grace said, shaking the carton.

'Who drank it?' Karen said sternly, turning to face the kids.

'Elliot did.' Mason said quickly.

'Did you?'

'Yeah.' Elliot said hesitantly.

Karen shook her head.

'Mason's in crap. Mason's in crap.' Olivia sang.

'Oh shut up.' Mason barked.

'Oh that ain't happening.' Olivia laughed.

'Hey Liv, since you've weirdly decided to put your school uniform on, tights and all, would you mind going down to the mailbox?' Karen said.

'Ah… why the hell not?' Olivia said, leaving the house.

'So Gracie, you got any interesting clients lately?' Elliot asked.

'Not really. I did have some woman asking me to design an eco-friendly ferret village.'

'What the hell is a friendly ferret village…eco… thing?' Jack asked, standing in the kitchen.

Grace shook her head. 'I have absolutely no idea.'

'Morning honey.' Karen said cheerfully. 'Good night's sleep? And before you give a dirty answer remember we've got company.'

'I would answer remotely dirty if I hadn't had such a bad sleep.'

'Why so bad?'

'I…uh…I kept waking up.' Jack lied.

'Well that blows.' Karen said. 'Here, have some coffee.'

'Thank you.'

'You know. For it being April, it's surprisingly cold out there.' Olivia said, re-entering the house. 'And there was no mail. Morning. What's up with you?' Olivia asked Jack. 'You look spaced out.'

'Uh..it's nothing. I'm just tired.' Jack lied.

'Welcome to my world pre-fluorescent pink earplugs.' Olivia said quietly to Elliot and Mason.

'What's with the school uniform Liv?' Jack asked.

'Don't ask.' Olivia then looked at the clock. 'Crap! I need to get ready for ballet class!' She said, running out of the kitchen. 'I do have ballet today, right?' She asked running back into the kitchen.

'Yes, Liv, you have ballet today.' Karen answered.

'Okay… good.' Olivia said running back up stairs.

'I worry about the girl sometimes.' Karen stated sarcastically.

Jack nodded. 'Yeah.'

---

**A/N: I know, I know. I take too long to update. I'm so so so so so so so sorry. Please forgive me. Please review! I hope you enjoy! Mars x (And thanks for the review Pam!) :)**


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: I know! I know! I'm a sorry excuse for a writer who doesn't update her stories for nearly six months. I am extremely sorry. I really am. Family stuff happened and I got caught up in that and studying for exams happened and them more family stuff overlapped the studying and I just never got around to this. Well, I'm here now. I should warn you this chapter is not the best and it may seem like there's a big jump or something or it seems a bit out of key. That's what happens when you don't update for 5 months. I'm really sorry. I have to say that not much happens in this chapter, it's basically just moving the characters on a little. So I'm going to let you read this and shout at me for not updating and curse me to Hell. Once again, incredibly sorry. Without further ado…**

**Oh, and the lyrics to Hear You Me will be on my profile page. You'll see why I'm mentioning that as you read.**

**NOW, without further ado…**

---

'Okay… so… you are flying to New York early in the morning… and we've to go to school… and get a cab to the airport… and get a flight by ourselves in the afternoon?' Mason tried to explain more to himself than to anyone else. 'How the hell is that going to work?'

'Yeah, 'cause you two can't be trusted on flights!'

'Elliot, are you aware you said that out loud?' Olivia asked.

'Hell yeah!' He yelled in reply.

'Okay,' Olivia said while nodding. 'In that case, he's right. You two can't be trusted on flights. Or airports in general for that matter.'

'That's not –'

Jack pulled a face. 'Karen, they're right.'

'I know,' she reluctantly said.

'But seriously,' Olivia began, 'isn't that just too much hassle? Why don't we just miss school that last day of term? 'Cause that would just be like, a hell of a lot easier.'

'Yes, yes it would. But you three said you needed to be at school for the music… concert… thing.'

Mason looked at Elliot and Olivia. 'I forgot we were in that thing. Oops.'

'And also in the morning we have to go to some meeting thingamabob.'

'Why?' Olivia asked.

'You know, I have no freakin' idea. I can't remember.' Karen muttered. 'Weddings are stressful.'

---

'Okay, next question,' Elliot declared, staring at the computer screen. 'What are your last thoughts as you fall asleep?'

'Thank god… the loud sex in the next room has finally stopped,' Olivia answered without thinking about it and continuing to tidy the 'Random Crap' room.

After a few seconds of continuing to look at the computer screen Elliot turned around on the swivel chair and said, 'That's actually one of the options.'

'No way,' Olivia giggled.

Mason appeared at the doorway. 'What are you guys doing?'

'Well,' Olivia began, 'because we have both finished packing, we were told to tidy up the Random Crap room and it is extremely boring so we decided to indulge in our rather disturbing 'Grey's Anatomy' obsessions by taking the 'Which Grey's character are you?' quiz on the Internet.'

Mason shrugged. 'Have I ever told you two that you both are _way_ too into 'Grey's Anatomy'?'

'Like she said,' Elliot muttered, 'disturbing obsessions.'

'You're just as addicted to Boston Legal!' Olivia exclaimed. 'You've gone as far as wanting to be a freaking lawyer!'

'Well you two have both gone as far as wanting to be freaking doctors!' Mason retorted.

Elliot sighed in defeat. 'He has a point.'

'But in my defence,' Olivia said, 'I have wanted to be a doctor since I knew what a doctor _was_."

'And in _my_ defence, I have wanted to be a lawyer since I knew what one was.But seriously Liv, who are you kidding?' Mason questioned as he progressed to help them tidy.

'Mase, since you're not in _any_ of our science classes I gotta jump to Liv's defence here.' Elliot cleared his throat before continuing, knowing Mason wouldn't believe the next words to escape his mouth. 'Liv is absolutely freaking amazing in all of the science subjects.'

Mason's jaw dropped. 'But… but… seriously?' He managed to splutter out while pointing at Olivia.

'It's true,' Elliot answered. 'Shocking, but true.'

'He's frickin' kidding me, right?'

'Meh. I'm good at the sciences,' Olivia shrugged, 'I'm not brilliant though.'

'Shut up Liv, you are!' Elliot almost yelled. 'She aces like, EVERY test and gets like THE best marks.'

Mason once again gestured in Olivia's direction. 'Seriously?'

Elliot nodded. 'Seriously.'

'Whoa…' Mason said slowly as he walked out of the room. He continued walk down the hall, shaking his head.

Karen, by chance, happened to appear in the hallway and noticed Mason's aimless wandering. 'What's wrong with you?'

'I feel like I just had the wind knocked outta me.'

'Why?'

'I just found out that my kooky, forgetful sister actually has brains.' Within seconds, Mason was hit with a small pillow that had been thrown down the hall. 'Okay, I deserved that.'

Karen picked the pillow up from the floor and proceeded to the Random Crap room to inspect Elliot sand Olivia's work. The room looked just as much of a mess now as it did when she sent Elliot and Olivia in there to tidy two hours ago. 'What the hell have you two done in the last two hours?'

Elliot looked around. 'Well,' he began, 'we moved that clutter from there to there.' Elliot gestured to two different points in the room. 'We also discussed school and how we've both been trying to learn to drive since we each turned fifteen. And then we got bored of that and we discovered that Liv was Dr Cristina Yang,' Elliot summarised.

'Seriously?' Olivia asked as she looked at the computer screen.

Elliot read the description out loud. 'You are Cristina Yang. You are incredibly determined and very blunt... yet somehow very likable.'

Karen nodded. 'That sounds about right.' A few seconds later she said to Olivia, 'Mason's freaking out about you being good at sciences, by the way.'

'I am not freaking out,' Mason said reappearing at the doorway. 'I just don't see it.'

'Why not?' Olivia asked.

Mason pondered for a second. 'I'm not sure.'

'You know what's scary?' Elliot mused.

A chorus of 'what' replied.

'In less than two years we are going to be going to college.'

Olivia scrunched her face in confusion. 'How do you work that one out?'

'Because we'll be applying for college when you're seventeen.' Elliot replied. 'We're fifteen.'

'Did I turn fifteen?' Olivia asked, genuinely shocked.

'Um… yeah.' Elliot answered.

'When did that happen?'

'Like, five months ago.'

Olivia shook her head. 'You're joking, right?'

'No.'

'Dammit, I have _got_ to start paying more attention.'

Elliot put his head into his hands. 'Didn't you realise you were fifteen when we were discussing driving lessons earlier.'

'Not so much.'

'That!' Mason exclaimed. 'That, _that_ is why I can't believe it!'

---

It was the middle of the night almost a week later. Elliot, Mason and Olivia were sound asleep their own rooms.

Karen knocked on their respective doors extremely loudly and yelled, 'Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up and get downstairs to the kitchen!'

Elliot and Mason stumbled out of their rooms quickly and ran down the stairs and into the kitchen to see Karen pacing the kitchen nervously and Jack sitting at the dining table half asleep.

Karen pointed to seats at the table. 'Sit!' She shouted so loudly it caused Elliot and Mason to jump out of their sleepy states. 'And where the hell is your sister?'

Just as Karen yelled, Olivia tripped unfocusedly into the kitchen. Her hair was frizzy and askew.

'So _that's_ why she straightens her hair in the mornings.' Mason muttered to himself.

'Where the hell have you been?' Karen yelled.

Olivia shot a confused glance to Elliot and Mason, who both shrugged. 'The moon,' she answered sarcastically. 'Where the hell do you think I was? I was sleeping!'

'Why?' Karen asked snappily,

'Because it's 3AM!' Olivia shouted back.

Karen once again pointed to a seat at the table. 'Sit.'

Olivia obliged and asked the question that everyone wanted to know the answer to: 'Why the hell are we here?'

'We will be leaving for the airport in half an hour and I just wanted to check you knew everything that was happening.'

Elliot grumbled. 'We know everything. We know that-'

Karen interrupted and listed everything they need to know.

'I was just gonna list all that!' Elliot whined.

She nodded slightly.

'And 3AM is when you choose to do it? ' Olivia whined tiredly. '3AM is when she chooses to do it!' She further commented, and looked at Jack who was out for the count. 'For the love of God I hope you're driving to the airport,' she said turning to look at Karen once again.

'We're getting a taxi.'

'At 3AM?' Elliot asked.

'Yeah.'

'Damn, that cab driver's gotta be pissed.' Mason muttered quietly.

---

_**It seems ironic that it's so sunny when today is such a dark day. Everybody around me is dressed in black formal clothing. Their faces expressions are solemn, and they are shivering thanks to the bitter cold. It is the start of January after all.**_ _**I have a quick look around the hall, and I'm surprised at how many people are here and how many of those people I don't recognise. They're Olivia's school friends I assume. I think they all got the shock of their lives the first day back at school after the Christmas holiday. I've heard Olivia's year group were called into a special assembly and told by the principal that… you know. I remember when I was in high school, a boy in my year died of leukaemia during the summer holidays. I hadn't been particularly good friends with him, but still, that assembly the first day of term was brutal.**_

_I recognise some of the people from Olivia's ballet class and the musical theatre class she goes to. Used to go to. All of the young people look as if they're leaning on each other, each of them trying to get through today. Many of them are crying. Others just look disorientated. _

_Across to my left, I see Rob and Ellen, Will's parents and Grace's parents, all of whom I hadn't even thought about in the last couple of weeks. Will and Grace must've informed them. Everything has been so stressful. Who knew funerals were so difficult to plan? Until now, the only experience I'd had with death was when my grandmother passed away when I was eleven. I don't really remember any planning of Nana's funeral. I guess I wasn't involved. Even as an adult I had some misguided notion that you had time for the shock of a person's death to set in before you had to scurry around planning his or her funeral. I was wrong. I had never thought what happens when the person who dies belongs to clubs or has memberships or how you tell a school that the person is no longer a pupil there. That has probably been one of the most difficult parts of all of this. Actually having to utter the words 'Olivia has passed away'. In the end, it was too difficult for Karen to make any of those calls, so Will and Grace made most of them for her._

_The minister says something about how when old people die we mourn for the life that was lost but when young people die we mourn for the life that could have been and he's right. It's weird, but since… __it__ happened I've been thinking and remembering about the most insignificant days and conversations. The memory that's been sticking out most in my head is this one time I was looking after Olivia and Mason when they were just little. Five they were, I think. I had to take Liv to get the cast taken off her arm after she broke her elbow falling out of a tree. She was sitting on the gurney thing while the doctor quickly checked how the break had healed. Olivia looked up at the doctor with an innocent smile on her face and asked, "What's it like to be a doctor?" And the doctor told her everything a five-year old could understand. Liv had listened keenly and when the doctor concluded her explanation. Then she said, "I want to be a doctor." And it stuck. If you'd asked her a month ago what she wanted to work as, she would've said, "I want to be a doctor." She was determined. It could surprise some people, because Liv was a bit of an airhead and she did ask some of the most stupid questions and say the most random things, but she had brains for work and she always got brilliant results at school. She was smart. So the minister is right when he says that we are mourning for the life that could have been because there's so many things that Olivia won't get to do._

_The last happy memory we have of Olivia is of her singing 'Hear You Me' by Jimmy Eat World (I think) along with Mason and a rather reluctant Elliot as the plane heading for Jamaica took off. It was the last song she sang. Elliot and Mason suggested it be played at the funeral. After listening closely to the words of the song I wonder if subconsciously, something inside Olivia knew it would be the last song she sang. As the song fills the hall, I weep. I weep for the life was and for the life that could've been. I weep for the memories that won't be made and I weep for the doctor I know she would have gone on to be. _

---

'Thank God for Mountain Dew,' Mason said before taking a swig from his bottle.

'Okay, why are we thanking God for Mountain Dew?' A classmate piped up.

Elliot sighed. 'Well, some people's parents woke them up in the middle of the night to panic. At least this time they had a semi-valid reason.'

'Why do they normally wake you up?'

Olivia shuddered. 'You don't wanna know.'

'How much does it suck that we have to be at school for a full day on the last day of term?'

Olivia giggled. 'Sucks for you lot!' she said, pointing around the class. 'We get to leave in oh, an hour and catch a plane to New York where we will be spending the better part of our summer holiday.'

'I hate you three.'

'Didn't it suck that we had homework for the last day of term?' Elliot asked. He worried when most of the class had expressions on their faces which said, 'Oh, _shit_.'

'What?' Olivia asked the rest of the class, slight panic in her voice.

'Please tell me you guys did the homework?' Mason said, his voice lowered.

Most of the class shook their heads.

'Oh, man!' Olivia shouted. 'I'm gonna kill you guys! That's if the teacher doesn't eat you all alive first!'

'You know what he's like!' Elliot said. 'He's keep the whole class in over lunch which is very, _very_ inconvenient for those of us who have a frickin' plane to catch!'

'I will be collecting the homework now, kids,' the teacher said entering the classroom.

'Oh this is not gonna be good,' Mason muttered under his breath.

---

'Thirty minutes of lunch? You're keeping the _whole_ class in over lunch!' Olivia exclaimed. 'Now I hate all of you guys!' She directed her statement at her classmates.

'Seriously? Even the ones who handed in the homework?' Elliot asked, his tone calmer than Olivia's.

'I told ya this wasn't gonna be good,' Mason muttered under his breath once again.

The teacher shrugged his shoulders. 'Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.'

'But we didn't do the crime 'cause we really can't do the time!' Olivia snapped back.

'That's an extra ten minutes added for Olivia's answering back.'

'Crap,' Olivia muttered to herself.

---

'We're never going to get to the airport in time, are we?' Mason asked quietly to Elliot. 'The cab driver that was supposed to be picking us up will have got pissed off and gone home by now.'

'Okay, okay,' Olivia said standing up and approaching the teacher, 'I apologise profusely for arguing. I just want you to understand how difficult it has been for some of us to hand the homework in. Some of us have hardly been in our homes since the assignment was issued. Some of us have, you know, been all around various stores and caterers' offices. Some of us of had our feet murdered thanks to being forced to try on like, a gazillion pairs of shoes with _extremely_ high heels and walk around in them for a few minutes while our mother inspects every miniscule detail about them.'

Elliot and Mason exchanged worried glances as Olivia's explanation turned into a full-scale rant.

'Some of us have been stuck in stores for near to two hours while our mother scrutinises two samples of fabric. One's lilac. One's a very very light purple.' Olivia turned to face her classmates who were looking on with a mix of horror and amusement. "What's the difference?" you ask. I haven't a freaking clue! The two pieces of fabric looked the same. Or at least to me they did. To my mother there was apparently enough of a difference for her to have a full-scale freak out in the middle of the store, very similar to the one I'm having right now in the middle of the classroom. Some of us were woken up at three freaking AM by our mother having another freaking freak out! And now some of us are freaking out royally in the middle of the freaking classroom because in spite of all that we actually managed to get the freaking homework completed and hand it in on freaking time but that doesn't seem to freaking matter right freaking now because the freaking teacher is keeping the whole freaking class in for freaking lunchtime freaking detention, even the ones who did the freaking homework, which is freaking unfair and freaking inconvenient for freaking some of us of have to leave school at freaking lunchtime to go to the freaking airport to catch a freaking airplane to JF freaking K airport in New freaking York for our freaking parents' freaking wedding which will involve a freaking lot of freaking freaking out and if we miss this freaking plane our freaking parents will freaking kill us and I am not freaking exaggerating here and if we get the freaking chance to explain that it was freaking you who freaking made us miss the freaking flight they will freaking come down here and freaking kick your freaking ass all whilst having a freak out. So the freaking way I freaking see it is you can freaking let the freaking ones who did the freaking homework leave freaking now or you can freaking well deal with my freaking parents, who will kick your freaking ass so freaking hard you won't freaking be able to freaking sit down for a freaking millennium, whilst they are having a freaking freak out, which is freaking damn freaking scary! So do you freaking see my freaking point?'

The whole class, including the teacher, was flabbergasted.

'Is… uh… is she always like that?' The teacher asked Mason and Elliot.

'No. To quote Liv that was 'freaking damn freaking scary.'' Elliot answered.

The teacher sighed. 'All those who handed in the homework, go.'

Olivia's head shot up. 'What?'

'Go. Go to the freaking airport to catch your freaking airplane to JF freaking K airport in New freaking York for your freaking parents' freaking wedding.'

'You freaking serious?' Olivia asked quickly.

'Yes I freaking am.'

'Thank freaking you!' Olivia said, running out of the classroom, followed shortly by Mason and Elliot.

---

'Ow,' Olivia whined, as her ears popped once again.

'What's up with you today? Are your ears normally like that when flying or do you just feel like being really whiny today?' Elliot asked sarcastically. "And did you remember you antihistamine and pen thing for if you get an allergic reaction?"

'My ears hurt like hell. And everything's in my bag under the seat. You need to start relaxing when we're on planes. It gets annoying' Olivia answered. 'And Mason, could you be bouncing about anymore?' She asked looking at Mason who was sitting to her left.

'I'm sorry. I really have to pee.'

'Then go to the bathroom you idiot!' Elliot said from the window seat.

'I would, but one is out of order and somebody appears to be suffering from a nervous stomach in the other.'

'Excuse me,' Olivia said to a passing air stewardess, 'why is that toilet there closed off?'

The stewardess looked around her trying to appear nonchalant. 'Can you keep a secret?'

All three kids nodded.

'Well, a couple decided to make use of their Mile High memberships this morning and we haven't had a chance to, uh, disinfect the bathroom yet.'

Elliot, Mason and Olivia exchanged unsurprised looks. '6.30 flight?' Olivia asked.

'Yeah.'

A mischievous look spread over Elliot's face. 'How did you catch them?'

'The woman had a _really_ high-pitched voice which was, well, you know, kinda hard to miss.'

'And there it is.' Mason said, while the other two nodded.

---

The airport was bustling the many people who had just arrived in New York. It hadn't occurred to Olivia that she, Mason and Elliot were still in their rather posh looking school uniforms until now while they were trying to weave their way through the masses of people heading in the direction of baggage claim. Running in a skirt was not the best idea. Mason had run further ahead of the other two in a desperate attempt to find a much-needed bathroom. An agreement had been made to meet up at baggage claim if they got separated, and right now it was looking very likely. Mason was out of sight completely and Elliot would make an appearance every couple of minutes. That was until some, ahem, fat arrogant bastard murdered her foot with his twenty tonne version and didn't even apologise, forcing her to sit down for a minute. Even when she stood up she pretty much had to hop to baggage claim, where Elliot stood looking rather pissed.

What the hell took you so long?'

Olivia shook her head. 'Don't even ask.' She sat down on a nearby bench untied her shoelace. She huffed a string of curses as she slid the shoe further and further off her painful foot, wincing at the same time. 'Do you have any idea where I could get ice?'

Elliot raised his eyebrows thoughtfully. 'A freezer. Alaska. An ice rink. North Pole. South Pole!'

Olivia looked up and glared at him.

'What? You asked where you could find ice.'

She shook her head and growled. 'Where the hell did Mason get to? The last time I looked he was ahead of both of us.'

'I assume he went to the bathroom.'

'Then what's taking him so long?'

Elliot pulled a disgusted face. 'Please, do not make me think about that.'

'Can you believe we actually had to fly in these awful uniforms?' Olivia asked, trying to take her mind off of her foot.

'Well, we did have stuff to change into in our bags, but that plan went kaput.' Elliot answered. 'Look on the bright side. We haven't bumped into anyone we know.'

It was then a shrill voice filled the hall.

'Well, well, well…'

'Oh you have gotta be freaking kidding me!' Olivia exclaimed.

---

Mason was out of breath by the time he found a bathroom. You'd think you'd be able to find a bathroom in the airport without having to leave Arrivals, wouldn't you? Apparently not. Mason had also discovered that running with a full bladder was also a recipe for disaster. He could have screamed when he eventually found a bathroom, only to discover there was a long queue. Grudgingly (why should you have to wait in a queue to _pee_?), he took a place in the queue. Looking behind him to see how far back the queue went, he instantly recognised the miserable looking face behind him as Grace's husband.

'Hey,' Mason said. 'How you doing?'

'Okay,' Leo replied bluntly.

'Been up to anything interesting?'

'Not really.'

'Why you in the airport?'

'To catch a flight.'

Mason knew this wasn't going well. Mason didn't really like this guy, but he was married to his 'aunt' so he wasn't going to _not_ make conversation. He just hoped he wasn't making his dislike for said aunt's husband to obvious. 'Where to?'

'Los Angeles.'

'What for?'

'Going to visit family.'

'Fair enough.' Mason bobbed in head for no reason. 'You still a doctor?'

'Yeah.'

'Elliot and Olivia want to be doctors.'

'Do they?'

'Yeah.' Mason rolled his eyes heavenward. '_Please make this, awkward, uncomfortable, unenthusiastic conversation and torture end.'_

---

After an early morning meeting with the minister who would be leading the wedding service, Jack thought it would be a nice idea to visit his mother and stepfather. You know, just out of courtesy. Much to his delight, his stepfather wasn't there, so at least he wouldn't have to deal with him just yet.

Sitting in his mother's kitchen, Jack was thinking. Judith knew something wasn't quite right. She could tell by the concentration line that appeared between his eyes. Thinking back to the days when she was just about to get married, she remembered how stressed out she'd been, and how everyone kept asking her if something was wrong because she always had a look of deep concentration on her face. She wasn't worried.

'Remember how you told me about trying to trace the tree a few weeks ago?' Judith asked.

Jack snapped out of his daze and answered affirmatively.

'Well, I spent a lot of time looking because, you know, I don't have much to do around here. It turns out that my great-grandparents were Scottish. Uh-huh. They were crofters. When lots of Irish people started immigrating to Scotland because of the potato famine, many of the farm owners realised they could get the Irish to do the same work for a lot less money, they offered the Scots money to move to America, Canada, Australia. And that's how my great-grandparents ended up here.'

Jack considered this for a few minutes. 'Scottish, huh?'

'Yeah.'

'I just had a great idea.'

---

Meeting Beverely Leslie was horrible at the best of times. Meeting Beverely Leslie in an airport in the most unfashionable school uniform every, well, you just know you're in for a whole load of sadistic insults.

Beverely Leslie had been laughing uproariously for five minutes straight (or in his case, most likely gay) since he saw Elliot and Olivia. 'What? When you moved to Ohio, did you leave behind your fashion sense?'

'You know, you really shouldn't laugh when you're a sixty year old man wearing Baby Gap.' Olivia said.

Beverely stopped laughing immediately.

'Well that shut you up.' Elliot commented.

'Anyway… you kids remember my… business associate Benji, don't you?'

'How you doing?' Olivia nodded to Benji.

'So, how do we get out of this awkward situation?' Elliot said quietly to Olivia, whose cell phone rang.

'By me answering my cell phone,' she said flipping it open. 'Hello?'

'Where the hell are you?' Mason shouted down the phone from somewhere else in the airport.

'We're at baggage claim. Where the hell are you?'

'I'm past baggage claim looking for you guys.'

Olivia rolled her eyes. 'Ugh. Can you come back through and meet us?'

'Uh, no!' You two are gonna have to come through here.'

'We can't!' We need to wait on our bags!'

'But we don't have any bags!' Mason shouted down the phone.

Olivia shot Elliot a confused look, phone still to her ear. Covering the mouthpiece she said, 'What bags did we have?'

'Our school bags.'

'Mase, we'll be right there!' Olivia flipped her phone shut. 'Sorry Bev, gotta run!'

---

"Finally!" Olivia exclaimed when they finally found Mason.

"You'll never guess who I bumped into," Mason said.

"Who?'

"Leo."

"As in Grace's husband?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah," Mason began, "and he looked really depressed."

"Someone else who looks depressed…" Olivia said, pointing to where Grace was standing waiting on them.

"Whoa Grace, who died?" Elliot said sarcastically earning him a slap on the arm from Olivia.

"Nobody," Grave answered solemnly. "You guys ready to go?" she asked, turning and walking towards the airport's exit before giving the teenagers a chance to answer.

"That's weird," Olivia muttered.

Elliot and Mason both voiced their agreements.

---

**A/N: I would just like to bring something to the attention of people reading this. You might have heard about this. On the 3****rd**** of May, four-year-old Madeleine McCann was abducted for her parents' holiday apartment in Portugal as she slept. Could you all please spread the word about her abduction, especially but not exclusively those of you (if any) who are in Europe and Africa (If anybody is reading this in Africa.) On my profile page there is a link to the 'Find Madeleine' website where you can download a banner to be put on your own website or signature on forums and message board. Could you please download the banner to raise awareness of the little girl's disappearance and help return little Madeleine to her family soon. Thank you.**


	33. Chapter 33

One could say that Judith McFarland was a teency bit confused. It was only a few years ago that her son had told her he was gay, and here he was getting married in a couple of weeks. And to a woman. And he wasn't coerced into it. Yep, confusion. She had also spent the last few weeks on the computer emailing different companies asking for different information and prices as a favour to Jack and Karen, and run up her phone bill making long distance calls to invite people to the wedding, also as a favour to Jack and Karen. Okay, she was confused but it didn't bother her. Her son was happy, that's all that mattered.

---

"So, today's objective," Karen began to announce.

"Our days have objectives?" Olivia asked.

"Until after the wedding they do."

"Can today's be 'get some sleep'?"

"Tired, Mase?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"You of all people need to ask _that_ question?" Mason asked Olivia sarcastically and she pulled a disgusted face.

"_Anyway_, today's objective is to find outfits for the wedding."

"Outfits as in…?" Will asked.

"As in wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses and tuxedoes," Karen said, while the smirk that Jack was trying to hide on his face failed to go unnoticed by Olivia. "We will be splitting into two teams, guys and girls."

"Why do I feel like I'm at adventure camp?" Elliot said quietly to Grace, who was sitting next to him. Grace looked really deflated, Elliot thought. She didn't seem to realise that he'd spoken to her.

"So who is all going to be in these… 'teams' as you call them?" Will asked.

"Well, in the guys' team, there's you guys, obviously," Karen said, gesturing between Jack, Will, Mason and Elliot, " and in the girls' team there's gonna be us three," she gestured between herself, Grace and Olivia, " and also Jack's mum and my mum. Oh and Jack's cousin." When Jack gave her a look as if to say 'which one', Karen said, "The Scottish one."

"Wait. Are you trying to tell me that Lois Whitley and Judith McFarland are going to be spending all day together in, more often than not, the _same_ room?" Olivia asked disbelievingly.

Karen nodded.

"Seriously? After what happened the last time?"

"Yeah."

"You're joking, right?"

"No, Olivia, I'm not joking."

Olivia began laughing incredulously and walked out of Will's apartment.

"Where is she going?" Will asked.

"Wait for it," Mason said.

Olivia walked back into the apartment a few minutes later and sat back down in her seat. "I forgot I don't live in New York anymore."

"Where were you going to go?" Elliot asked.

"I'm not exactly sure."

"You're an idiot."

Olivia took a sip of water. "I know."

---

Grace had continued to act strangely during breakfast. It had worried everyone but nobody had mentioned it until they had split into their teams. On the way to the tuxedo-fitting store, Elliot sent Olivia a text message.

_Elliot: Hey Liv. Do you know why Grace was being so weird?_

_Olivia: Nope. Not a clue. Will try to find out though…_

_Elliot: Okay. It's very weird. Dreading this whole outfit thing as much as I am?_

_Olivia: I've got to get fitted for a freaking dress! A freaking bridesmaid dress! You know those things? All you have to do is get fitted for a freaking tux. Who has the worse deal?_

_Elliot: Okay, you do. Wait a minute… _

_Olivia: What? _

_Elliot: The car has stopped in front of a kilt store… and there's no tuxedo shops around here._

_Olivia: Ha! That cannot be good._

_Elliot: Oh god… that's where we're going into._

_Olivia: OMG…hehe… sucks for you… Starting to think you're drawing the short straw here._

_Elliot: Shut up._

_Olivia: Haha! Okay, going into the bridal shop. Must go. Have fun!_

_Elliot: You too. :)_

---

Grace hated this. She was stuck in the middle of a bridal store, which was the _last_ thing she needed right now. Seriously, she would have taken being hit by a bus over this. Anything. It wasn't that she wasn't happy for Karen or that she didn't want to be her maid of honour or anything like that. She just couldn't stand the sight of all these wedding dresses and happy people, people whose lives seemed perfect. She just couldn't handle it. She was dreading the actually wedding, simply because she didn't know how to deal with having to walk down an aisle, albeit as a bridesmaid, and not be reminded of her own wedding day and how that marriage was crumbling around her. She didn't tell anyone about her impending divorce, but she wasn't quite sure why. She wasn't sure if she was in some stage of denial, or she didn't want to tell someone who was just about to get married that it doesn't always work out, or if she just didn't want to put a dampener on everyone else's happy spirits. Whatever the reason was, she was keeping her mouth shut. She wanted to tell someone, she wanted to just burst out crying, but this wasn't the time. It never seemed to be the time. So she was just going to keep her mouth shut. She was getting pretty good at that. She wandered around the bridal store, only speaking when spoken to and giving one-word opinions. She didn't think she was fooling anyone into thinking she was fine and nothing was bothering her, but she wasn't going to admit anything. She was standing on her own, not realising she was staring not oblivion when someone approached her.

"You're Grace, aye?" The woman asked.

"Um," Grace said. She didn't recognise the woman, and the Scottish accent threw her. "Yeah, I'm Grace," she answered.

"Hiya, I'm Aileen. I'm Jack's cousin. I dinnae think I introduced maself. So you're Karen's chief bridesmaid, eh?"

"Um… yeah, that's me."

"That's good. I wis hopin' I wasnae talkin' tae some random."

"I'm sorry, but what?"

"I said I was hoping that I wasn't talking to some random person."

"Oh, okay," Grace nodded. "I'm sorry. It's just I didn't understand what you were saying."

"Aw, dinnae worry aboot it, hen. I get it all the time."

"Again, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. You'll pick up what I'm saying soon. It's just that I pronounce thing differently sometimes."

"Oh, I see. What does 'dinnae' mean?"

"It means don't"

"And does 'aboot' mean 'about'?"

"Yeah."

"Yay," Grace said, her tone unanimated, even though she wanted it to be.

"Grace, honey," Karen said from another part of the small store. Grace winced knowing what she was about to be asked. "I'm going to try a couple of dresses on and I'm going to need your opinion, okay?"

"Okay," Grace answered solemnly.

"What's wrong, hen?" Aileen asked, having noticed Grace's wincing and having picked up on the sadness in her speech.

"Nothing's wrong," Grace muttered.

"Yeah, right Grace," Olivia said, walking round a corner in the shop to where Aileen and Grace were standing. "You've been acting weird since you picked us up from the airport a couple of days ago. And today you didn't even eat anything at breakfast."

"I had already eaten before you guys got there."

"Really?" Olivia asked incredulously. "Because I can phone Will and ask."

"Okay, I didn't eat any breakfast."

"Something's clearly wrong when _you_ don't eat," Olivia stated.

"There's nothing wrong!"

"Grace, I've only just met you and even I ken there's something wrong wi you."

"By any chance does 'ken' mean 'know'?" Olivia asked.

"Yes it does," Aileen answered.

"Wow, I feel clever," Olivia muttered cheerfully.

"Okay, I'll tell you," Grace began, "as long as you don't tell Karen, or Jack, or Will."

"Damn, this is serious," Olivia said, her cheerful aura suddenly becoming one of concern.

"Okay," Grace said, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Leo cheated on me with someone in Cambodia."

---

"Seriously!" Mason exclaimed in annoyance. "Seriously? Wearing a skirt?"

"It's a kilt," a Scottish accent said. "There's a difference."

"I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met!"

"I'm Blair. I'm Jack's cousin's husband."

"Mason. Nice to meet you. Now what was I ranting about?"

"Having to wear a kilt," Elliot piped up.

"Oh right," Mason said quickly. "Now –"

"I'll pay you fifty bucks!" Jack said, interrupting Mason's fume.

"Done."

---

"I'm telling you hen, that's all guys are interested in: gettin' a leg o'er," Aileen said to Grace, while Olivia paced the room, shaking her head.

"I know, but I thought he was different."

"I ken you did, hen."

"Liv you need to promise not to tell anyone," Grace said pleadingly.

"Can I tell Mase and Elliot? They're really worried about what's wrong with you," Olivia said.

"Fine, Mason and Elliot can know, you need to promise not to tell Jack, Karen or Will."

"Give me some duct tape and we should be fine."

"You want me tae boot his arse for you, hen? I'll do it if you want me to. I dinnae mind," Aileen offered.

"As much as I'd like to take you up on that offer, I think he's out of town."

"Shame," Aileen muttered.

"Grace, what do you think of this one?" Karen shouted from out of sight.

"I guess that's my cue," Grace said, standing herself up. "Remember you can't tell."

"No talk pact, got it," Olivia said.

"Hey Olivia," Aileen said quietly once Grace was out of earshot, "you know where Leo lives, don't you?"

"Yeah. Brooklyn. Why?"

"Fancy learning the art of arse-booting?"

Olivia smiled, a glint of mischief in her eyes. "I like you."

---

Elliot scratched his head just so as he had something to do with his hands. "I don't get it. Why did Grace seem so subdued at breakfast?"

"I don't know," Mason said. "She just seems really weird. She didn't even eat at breakfast, and _that's_ saying something."

"Uh, guys, I need to tell you something," Olivia said nervously, causing both Mason and Elliot to jumping, having not heard her enter the hotel room. "Just as long as you don't tell anyone," she added, playing with her hands nervously.

"Yeah Liv, you can tell us anything," Mason said, concern clear in his voice. "What's wrong?"

"Oh my god," Elliot said, shocked, "you're pregnant!"

Olivia's expression went from one of nervousness to one of shock and confusion. "What the hell, Elliot?"

He looked round at Mason. "Have I been watching too many soap operas and Lifetime movies?"

"Anyway," Mason said, ignoring Elliot's question, "What were you going to say?"

"The reason Grace is so depressed," she said, "is because she and Leo are getting a divorce."

"Oh my god," Elliot said solemnly.

"Why?" Mason asked.

"He cheated on her with some bimbo in Cambodia."

"Bastard!" Elliot and Mason shouted concurrently.

"That's exactly what I said!" Olivia exclaimed. "But I was in the middle of the bridal shop and Jack's elderly grandmother hit me over the head with her handbag for cursing."

"Hey, that explains why Leo looked so depressed in the airport the other day," Mason said.

"Oh yeah, like he deserves to be depressed?" Olivia asked rhetorically before putting a candy in her mouth. "He cheated on her, he ended that marriage," she added, her voice muffled slightly because she was trying to keep the candy in her mouth.

"But still, it's the end of his marriage to the woman he loves," Elliot tried to reason. Mason knew that this wasn't going to end well.

"Well if he loved her _that_ much he wouldn't have cheated on her in the first place!" Olivia said, more irritated.

"Was he drunk?"

"Elliot, did you _really_ just ask that question?" Mason asked, a little taken aback.

"What does that matter?" Olivia asked loudly.

"Well, I mean, when you're drunk, your sense of judgement gets completely thrown out the window."

"So that's an excuse?"

"Yes… well no… I mean!"

"Okay Elliot," Mason said, his voice soaking in sarcasm, "first rule about holes: when you're in one - don't dig deeper!"

Neither one of them had noticed Olivia walking out of the hotel room.

---

"Ready to go?" Aileen said, when Olivia climbed into her car.

"Elliot just pissed me off – I'm more than ready to ass kick," Olivia said. "I don't mean to sound rude, but how come you live in Scotland? I thought all of your family emigrated to America like, years ago."

"Yeah, they all did, but my father moved to Scotland for work before I was born."

"Fair enough."

"By the way, I don't have a clue where I'm going."

"Oh," Olivia said, realising. "Turn left here…"

---

There was a knock at Mason and Elliot's hotel room door.

"Come in!" Mason shouted. "Oh, hi Grace! What's up?" He asked, trying to seem nonchalant.

"Um, I just came to see if Olivia was here. She isn't in her room."

"Nah," Mason answered. "She was here, but Elliot pissed her off. Haven't seen her since."

"Oh, okay," Grace muttered.

"We're sorry about Leo, Grace," Elliot said quietly.

"Thanks," Grace said sincerely. "Look, you can't tell anyone else."

"Give us some duct tape and we should be fine," Elliot said, half-jokingly.

"Well, luckily for you, that was pre-ordered by one Miss Walker," Grace said, pulling a roll of tape out of her bag. "Okay, I've got to go. Jack and Karen have left it up to me to buy booze for the party."

"Party?" Mason asked.

"The pre-wedding party. Basically just an excuse for everyone to get drunk."

"Isn't that always why you throw parties?"

"I guess," Grace answered. "Okay, I must go."

"See ya," Elliot said.

"Think she's alright?" Mason asked, once the door had closed.

"She will be," Elliot answered.

---

Sleep. Jack missed sleep. Nightmares sucked. He couldn't get rid of them. Each night they would get worse. It started with Olivia dying and gradually everything was disintegrating around him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. It was freaking him out. Last night Mason ran away, ran away for good, and tomorrow night Elliot might be OD-ing on heroin or crack or whatever drug he was on. Nothing made sense right now. It needed to make sense. He needed to figure it out. And soon.

---

Around 7pm, Olivia and Aileen walked into Elliot and Mason's hotel room, both laughing hysterically.

"What's up with you two?" Mason asked curiously. "And where the hell did you go Liv?"

"We paid Leo Markus a visit," Olivia answered.

"How's he doing?" Mason asked sarcastically.

"Let's just say there's a Jewish man in Brooklyn who is not a fan of crazed Scots," Aileen answered.

"Nor is he a fan of angry redheads," Olivia added, pointing to her wavy hair.

"Okay, I better go to my own room. See ya."

"Bye Aileen," Mason said, as she walked out of the room.

"Hey Liv, about what I said earlier, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that," Elliot said apologetically.

"Hey, don't worry about. I guess I snapped. Trying on fifty bridesmaids' dresses will do that to ya."

"So we're good?"

"We're good," Olivia answered.

"Thank god," Elliot said. "You will _never_ guess what we have to wear to this wedding."

"Oh my god, you guys actually have to wear the kilts don't you?"

"Wait," Mason said, "how do you know that?"

"Elliot text me earlier and said you stopped outside a kilt store. I put two and two together."

"That is very good math, Olivia Walker," Elliot said.

"Thank you."

"But I bet you'll never guess the overall theme to the whole wedding ceremony/reception extravaganza," Mason challenged.

"What is it?"

"Whole thing: Scottish theme."

"Haggis for dinner and everything," Elliot added to Mason statement.

"Oh my god," Olivia laughed. "This is going to be so much fun."

"Oh by the way," Elliot said, "Grace left this for you," he continued, handing Olivia the roll of duct tape.

Olivia laughed and said, "You know I think she's going to be okay."

---

Night before the wedding.

The queue for the breakfast dinner buffet was busy, busier than normal. A new set of guests just arriving that day, Olivia figured. Still, she was hungry. She hadn't eaten anything since breakfast at seven. When it's the day before your parents' wedding, you don't get a lot of time to eat. Singing. That normally distracted her. Now what was the last song she listened to…?

"_If you have to let it go, and these dreams keep you awake, if you have to let it go, walk away,"_ she sang to herself, not caring and unaware of who was listening.

She continued singing the same song until she got to the table that Mason and Elliot were sitting at, when she sang something else: "_Food, glorious food!"_

"Hungry?" Mason asked, laughing at her impromptu warbling.

"Too right I'm hungry!" she exclaimed. "Pass me the bread please."

"Can you believe Jack and Karen are _actually _getting married?" Elliot asked, handing Olivia the basket of bread.

"I know," Mason said. "Pretty weird, isn't it?"

"No kidding," Elliot muttered.

"Yeah," Olivia said, spreading butter on her bread. "Beverley Leslie owes me twenty bucks."

"Technically he doesn't owe you twenty bucks until tomorrow," Mason pointed out.

"Well technically yeah," Olivia said, "but really, what's going to go wrong between now and tomorrow?"

"I'm supposed to thank you," Jack said slurring his words.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Olivia asked, having gotten a fright.

"I'm not sure," Jack said, "but I'm supposed to thank you."

Olivia turned to look at Elliot and Mason, each of whom had a confused expression on his face. "Thank me for what?"

"For the good advice you gave me," he said, before walking, rather stumbling, away.

"Okay, what good advice did I give him?"

"How the hell are we supposed to know?" Elliot said.

"Okay, that was _weird_," Mason noted.

"No kidding," Elliot replied.

"He was stinking of alcohol, guys," Olivia said quietly. "He's hammered."

"What were you saying about nothing going wrong between today and tomorrow?" Mason asked Olivia.

"No comment."

"Do you think he's still drunk from the party last night?" Mason asked.

"Hell no," Olivia answered.

"Guys, it's probably nothing to worry about," Elliot said. "I think most guys get a bit drunk on the night before they get married."

"Yeah, I suppose," Mason said.

"You know what?" Olivia said, looking at her plate of food. "I'm going to take this upstairs with me because I need to shower and pack a bag then catch a subway to the other hotel where I will be staying along with the rest of the bridal party."

"Okay, see ya tomorrow!" Elliot said.

"St Patrick Cathedral, 3PM. Be there or be square!" Olivia shouted across the dining room.

"You're preaching to the choir, sista!" Mason shouted back, and all three laughed.

---

Morning of the wedding.

Olivia quickly checked her room for things she was supposed to be taking with her to breakfast. That's when her phone beeped.

"Elliot, stop sending me messages. I have like no money left in my phone!" she said aloud, as if Elliot could actually hear her. Flipping her phone open, she read the message.

_Elliot: We have a code black._

"We have a bomb in a hospital?" She muttered to herself, recalling an episode of Grey's Anatomy she'd watched.

_Olivia: What?_

_Elliot: Code black. _

_Olivia: What the hell is code black Elliot?_

_Elliot: Code black: Missing groom._

Olivia read the message over and over. _Code black: Missing groom. Code black: Missing groom. _She stepped out of the room into the landing of that floor and looked around her. Everyone was happy and smiling, all excited for the wedding. Karen was sitting on one of the hotel chairs, literally crying with excitement, blissfully unaware of what was happening. That's when the realisation hit Olivia.

"Oh shit."

---

_**AN: I'm visioning Pam throwing things at me. ::pre-emptively hides behinds rocks:: I'm evil! I know! Hope you enjoy this chapter:) And I will hopefully be updating again soon. :) Enjoy! But please don't hate me. Oh, and the song that Liv is singing is 'Walk Away' bgy Funeral For A Friend. :)**_


	34. Chapter 34

_Olivia: What the hell is code black Elliot?_

_Elliot: Code black: Missing groom._

Olivia read the message over and over. _Code black: Missing groom. Code black: Missing groom. _She stepped out of the room into the landing of that floor and looked around her. Everyone was happy and smiling, all excited for the wedding. Karen was sitting on one of the hotel chairs, literally crying with excitement, blissfully unaware of what was happening. That's when the realisation hit Olivia.

"Oh shit," Olivia said quietly to herself. "Ow!" she exclaimed when something hit her on the back of the head. "What was that for?"

"Young lady, I thought I warned you before about your language."

"Sorry, Mrs McFarland," Olivia said grudgingly. "Still, there's no need to use such violence against a minor."

"There's no need for a minor to be using such language."

Olivia rolled her eyes and walked away. She wasn't winning that argument. She looked and walked around the room, trying her best to act nonchalant. She wasn't sure how successful she was being. She was usually hopeless at acting normal in a crisis. And this was a crisis. She needed to tell someone, but who? Mrs McFarland was out. Olivia didn't want yet another smack upside the head. Aileen was out. She was standing right beside Karen, and there was no way that Karen could hear about this, not yet. That reminded Olivia: Where were Judith McFarland and Lois Whitley? Oh, they were going to the hairdresser's studio at a different time from the rest of them. They would be the good people to tell, except for the fact that Olivia didn't have their cell phone numbers! Typical. Just fucking typical. Olivia walked to where Grace was standing, over by one of the lamp tables aimlessly flicking through a magazine. Olivia stood behind Grace.

"We have a code black," Olivia said extremely quietly.

Grace turned around and looked at her strangely. "We have a bomb in a hospital?"

"No way, that's what I said," Olivia said brightly, momentarily forgetting why she was talking to Grace.

"What is code black?" Grace asked, sensing there was a real seriousness to the conversation.

Olivia looked down at the phone in her hand. She searched through the menus to find the message Elliot had sent her, telling her what Code Black was. When she found said message, Olivia let Grace read it.

"Oh… my god," Grace muttered. "What are we going to do?"

"What I need you to do is _not_ tell Karen. That we are only going to do if the worst case scenario arises."

"What's the worst case scenario?" Grace asked.

"I don't even want to go there," Olivia said concernedly.

"What are we going to do just now? I mean somebody has got to find out what's going on. Somebody has got to go to the other hotel, but can any of us leave?"

Olivia thought for a few moments. "Okay. My nail appointment is at a different time from yours. It's in half an hour. After that, I will go over there and get a report of what the hell is going on. Do you have your cell phone?"

"I do."

"Do you any credit on said phone?"

"I do."

"Good stuff," Olivia said. "Okay, I'm going to go."

"Good luck," Grace answered.

"Remember," Olivia began, "don't say a word to Karen."

"What if she starts suspecting something and asks me? What am I supposed to do? Lie?"

"Come on, I kept your secret!" Olivia said sternly, careful not to shout and draw attention to the conversation.

"Okay, no talk pact, got it."

"Good," Olivia muttered quietly while pressing the down button on the elevator.

"Liv," Karen shouted from the other end of the hall, "where are you going?"

"Nail appointment," Olivia replied. "Wish me luck. Again," she said quietly to Grace as she stepped into the elevator. "I'm going to need it."

"Good luck," Grace said as the elevator doors closed. She turned back around, and hoped this wasn't going to end in disaster.

---

Olivia stepped out of the elevator once it had reached the ground floor lobby. Looking out of the large glass entrance, she noticed the torrential rain cascading down it. Perfect day to be raining, Olivia thought as she rummaged through her pink canvas bag to find her purse, hoping to have enough money to get a cab. Well, it's raining when you're going to be getting you hair done in a few hours for a wedding (optimism goes a long way), you really don't want to be getting your hair wet. She looked in her purse. Fifteen bucks. She stood at the reception desk and asked the receptionist to call a cab, before walking to a seating area to call Elliot.

"Okay, talk," Olivia said bluntly once Elliot had answered the call.

"Are you alone?"

"Yeah. Talk."

"Nobody has seen him since last night."

"What time last night?"

"Just around-"

There was a beep on the line. "Elliot? You there?"

"_There is insufficient credit in this phone. Please top up."_

"Fuck!" Olivia said, louder than she'd meant to. She looked up to see everyone in the seating area staring at her. "What? I'm in the middle of a freaking crisis here! You really want to hit me over the head with your handbags, go ahead!" She looked round the room. "No? Don't say I didn't offer."

"Taxi for Walker?"

"Yes, that's me!" Olivia exclaimed, running out of the lobby.

---

Two hours later, Olivia urgently walked into the other hotel.

"What the hell happened to you?" Will asked, noticing her drenched appearance.

"Have you seen the rain outside?" Olivia shouted angrily.

"Then why didn't you take a cab?" Will asked.

"Because it cost me ten bucks to get a taxi to the nail place to where I now owe forty bucks, then it cost me five bucks to buy a phone card for a cell phone to which the battery died thirty seconds after I put the freaking money in!"

"Okay… you're cranky," Mason said.

"Can you freaking blame me?"

"Noooo," Mason said, quite frankly terrified.

"Okay, somebody is going to have to tell me what the hell is happening here."

"As of 7.15pm last night, nobody has seen Jack McFarland," Will explained.

"Wait a minute," Olivia muttered, "that was when we were eating dinner in the restaurant. And he was hammered."

"Oh this is _so_ not good," Mason said.

"No shit, Sherlock!" Olivia shouted.

"Okay, shouting is going to get us nowhere," Will said diplomatically. "What we need to do is try to figure out where Jackass McFarland is."

"Nice play on the name," Olivia smiled.

"Thank you. I've been practising it all morning."

"Okay, so before you got here we made a list of all the places _It_ could be," Elliot, said, handing Olivia a piece of paper.

The list read:

_Any bar in the city_

_The gym_

_A gutter if Grace finds him before we do_

_Are there any open auditions for Broadway musicals today?_

_Neverland_

"Okay, this is just getting ridiculous now," Olivia said, reading down the list.

"We know. We couldn't think of any other places," Will explained.

"Have you guys checked any places already?"

"We checked Neverland but they don't allow adults in so I assume he's not there," Mason quipped.

"Do they allow entry to adults with the brains of children? Because if so I think you're in with a shot of him being there," Olivia replied in the same manner.

"Nah, they don't allow child-brained adults."

"Damn."

"We have a serious matter here. We have a Code Black here, this is not the time for jokes!" Will snapped.

"Okay, seriously, have you checked anywhere?"

"We have checked the bars, but seeing as none of them were open I don't think he's in any of them," Elliot answered.

"Grace hasn't killed him so I don't think he's in any gutters," Olivia said. "_Yet._"

"Blair's away checking the gym. Results of said search haven't arrived yet," Mason added.

"Yes they have," Will said, looking down at his cell phone, "and they're negative."

"Crap," Elliot muttered sternly.

"Okay, back to the drawing board. Where else could he be? Where has he been in the last few days?"

"Well," Olivia began her reply to Will's question, "he had a reunion lesson with his old acting class."

At that moment, all four heads snapped up.

"Will, you have money for a cab, right?" Olivia asked.

---

"You guys are New Yorkers, right?" The cab driver asked his passengers.

"Native," Mason answered quickly.

"You're gonna have to tell me the way to this acting studio place. I'm new to the city. LA cabbie previously."

"I only know the way on foot," Will said. "Liv, you know the way, don't you?"

"What am I? The go-to girl for directions?"

"No it's just that you used to take dance lessons in the studio next door to it," Will answered.

"Who else have you had to give directions to?" Elliot asked.

"I had to give Aileen the direction to Brooklyn when we went to kick Leo's ass the other day," Olivia answered before realising that that wasn't information she was supposed to share.

"Why did you go to kick Leo's ass?" Will asked.

"Um…" Olivia tried to think up a believable lie but was fruitless.

"You know that he cheated on Grace don't you?"

"Yeah," Olivia answered resignedly. "Wait, how did _you_ know? Grace told us not to tell you."

"Well you see I went over to Brooklyn to drop off some extra lasagne that I made because I know Grace loves it-"

"Grace loves any food," Mason interrupted.

"True," Will said. "Anyway, a women who was _not_ Grace answered the door in a nightie, so that was my first clue. Grace doesn't know that I know"

"Wait a minute, you saw this in Brooklyn?" Olivia asked.

Will nodded.

"Grace said he cheated on her in Cambodia."

"So now the mystery is did he cheat on her twice, or is the Brooklyn woman also the Cambodia woman," Mason said, feeling rather intelligent.

"Guys, kinda need directions here," the cabbie said.

"Oh right. Take the first left and then the second right…" Olivia directed.

---

Standing in the main reception, Will, Mason, Elliot and Olivia were discussing their options.

"Okay, so where do we search first? And what do we do if he is in here? What do we say?" Elliot asked.

"Jack McFarland, I am going to kick your sorry ass!" they heard someone shouting from another hall.

"That," Mason answered Elliot's question.

"Was that one of us who shouted that?" Olivia asked.

"No," Elliot answered.

"Didn't think so."

After Olivia's statement, all four walked into the hall they heard the shouting coming from, where they saw two angry people: Judith McFarland and Lois Whitley.

"Hey, they beat us!" Mason said brightly.

---

Grace's phone had never been out of her hand for the last two hours. She was desperately trying to keep calm. This 'not-telling-Karen' thing was difficult. It was killing Grace to watch her get ready for a wedding that was most likely not going to happen. Sanguinity was never one of Grace's strong points.

"Grace honey, can you phone Olivia?" Karen asked. "She's been gone for a long time, I'm starting to get worried."

_You're not the only one_, Grace thought. "Will do," she answered, trying her best to remain cool. She didn't want to tell Karen that she'd already tried to phone Olivia, but that she couldn't get through. Karen would probably then ask why she'd tried to phone her already and that would leave Grace in the awkward position of having to lie, and Grace was a bad liar. That being said, she'd managed to convince everyone that there was nothing wrong with her, but then maybe they were just so wrapped up in their own stuff to notice. Like now, Karen was so wrapped up in getting ready for her wedding to notice that Grace was panicking. This time though, Grace was glad she wasn't noticed. She cleared her throat before talking. "Karen, I tried Liv's phone and I can't get through to her. Maybe her signal's down. Mine keeps going funny because of the weather. I'll try again in a few minutes."

"What's wrong with the weather?" Karen asked.

"Um… torrential downpours."

"Goddamnit," Karen muttered. "That's the worst thing that could happen."

Grace had to stop herself from laughing at the irony aloud. _If only she knew._ "I'm going to try Olivia's phone again," she said wandering into a corner to once again try to get an update.

---

"Um… how did they know he was missing?" Olivia asked Elliot quietly.

"Will text them to."

"Seriously!" Judith shouted. "Seriously, you're going to do this? You're going to walk out on your own wedding?"

"Yes."

"Oh, I'm gonna kill him," Olivia said, walking forward with her fist drawn back. Mason and Elliot grabbed her arms, preventing her from going any further. She turned her head and glared at both of them.

"Olivia, calm down and let us deal with this," Lois calmly said.

"No," Olivia shouted. "Have you seen Karen? Have you seen how excited she is?"

"Obviou-"

"Today, jackass," Olivia interrupted.

"Then the answer is no."

"Well she's crying. Literally crying with excitement. Karen Walker does _not_ cry. Ever," Olivia said. "Is my point getting across to you? Screw this," Olivia said, drawing her fist back once again.

"I think the point Olivia is trying to make, not in any sort of violent way," Lois began, as Elliot and Mason once again struggled to stop Olivia from using her violence, "is why would you want to hurt Karen? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"For goodness sake, I have a reason. I'm not just some jackass who walks away from something like this or who hurts people for no reason. I mean, come on. Who do you think I am?"

"Well let's hear this reason them," Will said, surprising himself with the amount of anger in his voice.

"Yeah, and better be a damn good reason," Mason said.

"Or else," Elliot added, as Olivia punched her own open hand.

"I just... I can't do this."

"Okay, seriously, you're not going to let me kill this jackass?" Olivia said furiously.

"Why can't you do this?" Will said.

"Ignored," Olivia sang.

"Olivia, shut up," Jack snapped.

"Okay, really? I'm the bad guy here when you're the one who's chickening out on your wedding?"

"Olivia, go and stand over there in the Naughty Corner," Will said commandingly.

"Damn Supernanny," Olivia muttered under her breath as she walked into the corner.

"Okay," Will said, taking control of the situation, "why can't you do this?"

"Because."

"Because? That's all you've got?" Olivia said, wandering away from the naughty corner.

"Naughty Corner, Olivia!" Will said, pointing to the corner.

"Damnit!" Olivia walked back to her corner.

"Because what?"

"Because I'm gonna screw it up."

"That's your reason?" Elliot said. "Okay, I'm with Olivia on this one." He drew his own fist back.

"Elliot. Naughty Corner!" Will shouted. "God, you're all so violent today."

"Welcome to the dark side," Olivia said when Elliot reached the corner. "We have cookies," she added pulling a box of cookies out of her bag.

"What makes you think you're gonna screw up?"

"Because I always do."

"Yeah we get it. You screw up! Now just tell us the hell you screw up, ya jackass."

"Mason!"

"Yeah, naughty corner. I get it." He said, walking towards the corner.

"You can't blame them for trying, can you?" Lois said quietly to Judith, who shook her head.

"You're in the dark side now, my friend," Elliot said to Mason when he arrived in the corner.

"Cookie?" Olivia offered.

"You're losing respect here," Will said. "Fast. So you better do some seriously good explaining here or I'm afraid I'll be sending myself to the Naughty Corner."

"The dark side has cookies!" Mason shouted through a mouthful of cookies.

"I just can't do it, okay. I can't. I can't because when I do things it fucks up everything for everyone else."

"Okay, we're getting further with the figuring out why you think you screw everything up, but we're still going to need more information if we're going to help you here," Lois said coaxingly.

"I'm an asshole. I know I am. But I can't do it."

"For the last freaking time, would you just tell us why the hell you can't do it!" Will shouted.

"If that had been one of us the said that," Mason said quietly, "we would have been sent to the Naughty Corner."

"Such double standards," Olivia muttered, shaking her head.

"I'm going to screw it up like I do everything else. You know the first thing I did to screw things up?" Jack yelled. "I killed Olivia."

"Am I alive?" Olivia asked quietly. "One of you hit me," she said to Elliot and Mason.

"You want to take this one or can I?" Mason asked.

"You take it," Elliot answered.

"Ow! Not on the back of the head!" Olivia said after Mason hit her. "I already have a bump there. But good, it appears that I am living."

"I kill her by giving her peanuts that she will be allergic to. Then everything starts falling apart. Mason will repeatedly run away until he is found dead in some gutter somewhere. All while this is happening Elliot will be injecting himself with heroin and any other intravenous drug he can get his hands on, which of course is my fault because I was too busy drinking myself into a stupor because, wait for it: I'm in the middle of a messy divorce. Again, that's my fault. What's Karen doing? She's also drinking herself into disrepair. We can't even talking without arguing and blame gets thrown in all directions. Oh and guess what else? She's popping the pills and constantly being hospitalised because she keeps trying to kill herself. So do you see? That's why I can't do it, because if I do it," Jack paused, trying to compose his emotions, "well, what will happen doesn't even bear thinking about."

The other people in the room exchanged glances, none of them knowing what to say to that.

"Bad things happen all the time," Olivia said a minute or so later, "things that we can't control and things we wish didn't happen. but you can't go around blaming yourself for everything that happens. And if you keep thinking the worst is going to happen, then you'd get nowhere in life. Ever. You know what? I could accidentally eat peanuts tomorrow and die, or Mason could be hit by a bus or something could happen to Elliot. I'm not meaning to be morbid or anything, it just could. But that doesn't mean all that stuff you said would happen. And you know what else? You may get divorced. That happens to, but you don't go into marriage expecting it to end in divorce. I mean look at Grace and Leo," she said before being kicked in the leg by someone. "What? He's the one who mentioned divorce first!"

"What's going on with Grace and Leo?" Jack asked, for a minute forgetting his own stuff.

"Oh shit," Olivia muttered, realising her mistake. "Look the point is… somebody else wanna take this one?"

"The point is," Will took over, "those things didn't happen, and you can't think they're going to happen or you'll never… you won't have a life."

"Oh and, uh, if you guys had done all of those things," Olivia piped in, "I would have kicked your asses from the afterlife."

The rest of the people in the room laughed.

"Look, this isn't going to be easy," Judith said quietly, "not when you're in that frame of mind. But you can do today, because after today what is _really_ going to be different?"

"Yeah," Elliot added. "It's not like you're waiting until after you're married to do… _stuff_," he elaborated while grimacing.

"So do you think you can make it out of here and back to the hotel?" Will asked.

"I can try."

"Okay, fantastic. I've been gone for nearly three hours. They're probably wondering where the hell I've got to," Olivia said.

"We'll give you a lift," Judith offered.

"Thanks."

"Wait. Does Karen know I ran?"

"Nope," Olivia answered.

"Don't tell her."

"Not gonna."

"By the way, what advice were you thanking Olivia for?" Elliot asked.

"Um… for telling me to run."

"What?" Olivia yelled. "When the hell did I tell you to do a runner?"

"Yesterday at dinner time."

"How did I… oh I was singing Walk Away."

"Liv, I've told you before: Don't sing in public! It has bad consequences," Elliot said.

"Okay, I will kill you," Olivia threateningly said as they all walked out of the building.

---

"Grace, I'm getting _really_ worried now," Karen said, looking down at her own phone. "Why would she be gone this long?"

"I don't know. I'm sure she'll be back soon."

"Grace, you know something."

"What? What do you mean I know something?" Grace asked nervously.

"Grace, you're lying. I can tell. You're a bad liar."

Grace knew she had one of two options here. She could either lie which would end up worrying Karen more or she could tell Karen what was really going on and… well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what would happen if she told Karen the truth. That being said, she had to weigh up the lesser of two evils. At least with the second option, Karen would know what was going on. "Look," Grace began, inwardly preparing herself for the worst, "Olivia is-"

"I'm sorry I was gone so long," Olivia said quickly walking out of the elevator doors. "There was a huge hold up at the nail place. Equipment malfunctioning, not enough nails, those two bickering," she added pointing to Lois and Judith who were walking behind her. "Anyway, does anybody have a phone charger? My battery kicked the bucket."

"Uh here," Karen said, handing her a phone charger.

"Thanks," Olivia said, plugging the phone charger into a socket. "By the way," she said quietly to Grace once Karen was out of earshot, "Code Black status has been downgraded to Code Blue: Flight Risk."

"Well, that's better," Grace said, "but why did he bolt in the first place?"

"I'll explain later."

"Okay, we have to go to the hair place _now_ because we're really really late," Karen said quickly. "Come on let's go!"

---

Everything was going well. Really well. Everybody was calm and laughing. No drama. Just the way everyone liked it.

Grace was standing in the foyer waiting for the rest of the group. She was ready to go. Her hair was styled. She was in her dress. Her shoes had been on for ten minutes and were already murdering her feet. Her make-up was perfect. Now all she had to do was wait for the others to get ready. She decided to read a magazine to pass the time. While she was reading her phone rang inside her bag. Expecting it to be her mother, Grace ignored the ringing. When the message tone sounded, she checked her phone just in case there was something wrong.

_Will: Reiteration of Code Black status._

_Grace: I'm gonna kill him._

---

Ten minutes. Ten minutes until the wedding was supposed to start and, as far as Olivia and Grace knew, there was still no sign of Jack.

"It's painful to lie now," Grace said quietly.

"Grace, it was painful twenty minutes when the guests started arriving. Now it's just excruciating," Olivia said.

"Somebody's got to say something to her," Grace muttered. "We can't let her go out there and have her humiliated in front of everyone."

"Look, I'll go outside, talk to Elliot or Mason and see what's going on," Olivia said to Grace, putting on a thick waterproof coat. "Be right back," she said loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Where you going?" Karen asked.

"Fresh air," Olivia lied.

---

"_Please_ tell me that everything is normal and the McJackass is here," Olivia said, walking quickly out of the church.

"Nope," Elliot answered solemnly.

"Damn."

"What are we going to do?"

"Well, Grace and I are going to have to tell Karen that this wedding ain't happening. That's what we're going to have to do. You guys get the easy job of telling the guests to go home."

"Yeah, we've got the easy job," Elliot muttered. "You going to go back in, or what?"

"Give me a minute to get ready for this."

"Sure."

"You don't happen to have any booze on you, do you?"

"Nope," Elliot said. "No Dutch courage for you."

"Damn."

"You know what really sucks about it all ending like this?"

"What?" Olivia asked.

"It's the fact that everybody is so excited for this and there's been so much work been put into this and it all seems as if it was for nothing."

"Yeah. We all got our hair done for nothing and we all put on these fancy outfits and everything for nothing. Not to mention the fact that Karen's going to be heartbroken."

"I'm going to kill him next time I see him," Elliot said threateningly.

"I think we should start a queue," Olivia quipped. "By the way, the kilts didn't look stupid."

"No?"

"No."

"Thanks."

"Okay, I better go in," Olivia said.

"Good luck."

"Thanks. I think we're gonna need it," she said quietly before walking back inside.

Elliot waited a second before walking round to the front of the church where Will was standing. "They're about to tell Karen."

"I am so glad I'm not them right now."

"Tell me about it," Elliot said before walking back around the church to go inside.

Will kicked a stone across the ground and turned around before looking to see where it went.

"Thanks for that by the way," a voice said.

Will turned around to look at the person who spoke. "You're a bastard."

---

Olivia walked backed into the room dreading what was about to happen. Grace looked at her and she shook her head to say it was bad news. "Somebody's going to have to tell her. Go on then."

"No way," Grace said defensively, "I'm not telling her. Not on my own."

"Fine. We'll tell her together," Olivia said. "But you start talking first."

"Fine." Grace took a deep and shaky breath, preparing herself for the news she was about to break. "Karen, look, uh… we kinda… really… need to… talk," Grace stuttered out just before there was a knock at the door.

"You girls ready for a wedding?" The church helper said.

"What?" Olivia asked.

"The wedding. Everyone is waiting for you all. Miss Walker, the groom is starting to think you're doing a runner."

Olivia barely managed to keep from laughing.

"I'm confused," Grace said quietly.

"Me too," Olivia muttered.

"Okay, we need the shortest bridesmaid first."

"That would be me." Olivia stepped forward.

"Then the other bridesmaid, who I assume is you," he said pointing to Grace.

"Yes," she said, also stepping forward.

"Then of course, the bride."

"That would be me," Karen said, grinning, and completely unaware of how the whole day nearly ended in disaster.

---

"Holy crap!" Olivia said, after the ceremony was over. "Did that really happen?"

She, Grace, Will, Elliot and Mason were in the second car on the way to the reception hall.

"That really happened," Will said.

"Yeah see _now_ Beverley Leslie owes you twenty bucks," Elliot said.

"Beverley Leslie owes you twenty bucks?" Grace asked.

"Yeah, he bet me twenty bucks that they wouldn't make it to the wedding."

"They nearly didn't," Will pointed out.

"Let's not go there," Olivia warned.

"Yeah, we didn't tell Karen that he was gone," Grace added.

"She doesn't know?" Mason asked.

"Doesn't know a thing," Olivia answered.

"Yeah, the guy knocked on the door right as we were beginning to tell her he'd bolted," Grace elaborated.

"That's good timing then or that could have been one awkward situation," Elliot laughed.

"Where did he go, by the way?" Olivia asked.

"Bar," Will answered. "Some alcoholic calming was needed apparently.

"I'm still gonna kick his ass though," Olivia said, while Grace nodded in agreement. "He could have told you where he was going to avoided all the panic the second time."

"So, uh, Grace… when are you going to mention that you're getting divorced?" Will asked.

"Wait… you know?"

"Duh… you can't hide things from me that easily."

"I'll mention it another time. Not today."

"How are you not more bitter?" Olivia asked.

"Well I was," Grace began, "but then I thought about it for a while and I realised that I was happy for them and that I shouldn't let my bitterness stop myself from having a good time," Grace explained. "And I shouldn't let my bitterness make me want bad things to happen for the wedding" she added, guilt clear in her voice.

Olivia gasped overdramatically. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," she admitted awkwardly. "You have _no_ idea how guilty I was feeling when everything was screwed up."

"Anyway," Will began handing each person in the car, bar the driver, a champagne glass, "I propose a toast."

"With what? There's nothing to drink in here," Grace said.

Will pulled out a whisky bottle. "I told the driver to hid this in here earlier. What with the Scottish theme and all."

"But we can't drink," Elliot said on behalf of himself, Mason and Olivia.

"One glass won't kill you," Will said, filling up their glasses.

"Well, okay then," Olivia said.

Will cleared his throat subtly before beginning. "To Jack and Karen," he said, raiding his glass. The others echoed his words. All of them except from Will seemed to be taking large gulps. "Yeah, you're all gonna need the Dutch courage. You're all giving speeches in approximately fifteen minutes."

Grace, Olivia, Elliot, and Mason all spat out their whisky over Will.

"Lovely," he said, wiping his eyes. "Did I not tell you guys that?"

All shook their heads.

"My bad," Will replied sheepishly.

---

"Okay," Will said into the microphone, "well, I asked Jack and Karen about a month ago if we could say something here today. They agreed, but apparently I didn't tell the rest of them and I ended up with whisky all over me, so I'm gonna make this short and sweet. Congratulations you guys. All the best," he concluded, raising his glass. "Oh, and enjoy the haggis. I helped make it."

"You took it out of the packet!" Olivia said sardonically.

"That still helped to make it!" Will retorted.

Grace was next to step up to the microphone. "I, uh, I didn't have time to prepare a speech so I'm going to do something a little different. I'm going to sing." Grace had barely even opened her mouth before people were shouting for her to get off the stage. "Fine!" she whined childishly. "Congratulations Jack and Karen." She walked off the stage.

"Well, I think just had a lucky escape there," Elliot said, taking the microphone. "One of many today actually." He cringed when he saw Olivia and Mason glaring at him, realising what he'd implied. "Anyway, I just want to say that you guys are the best and I wish you all the luck in the world."

"I'm gonna keep this simple," Mason said through the microphone. "Congratulations."

"Nice one Mason. Good toast," Olivia said sarcastically approaching the mic. "Okay, what can I say that's different from all the rest of you? You took all the good things to say!"

"That's what you get for being the youngest!" Mason shouted.

"Actually Mase, if you were to check our birth certificates you'd see that you're seven minutes younger than me."

"Oops," Mason said quietly.

"Anyway," Olivia said, still trying to think of something decent to say. "Oh I got it!" she exclaimed. "I was in Home Ec class a couple of weeks trying to explain our whole family situation thing to the new kid in the class. She looked at me weirdly then said, 'Well isn't that totally awkward?' I thought about for a minute then said, 'No, it's not.' Then I spent the next half hour trying to explain to her why it's not. She wasn't getting it. I still don't think she gets it. Anyway, I was thinking about it a lot after that and it made me realise, and I'm sure Mason and Elliot would agree with me here, I wouldn't have it any other way. Anyway the point I'm making is… um… congratulations." She walked off the stage.

"Good ramble," Elliot said sarcastically.

"I know! I couldn't think of what else to say!"

"Well, we liked it." Karen said. "We liked them all."

"Especially yours Mason," Jack added. "How long did it take you come up with that?"

"It took me the very long time of three seconds," Mason answered in a humorous tone.

The others laughed.

"Would the new Mr and Mrs McFarland please take to the dance floor for their first dance as man and wife," the DJ said through the microphone.

"Would you care to join me, Mrs McFarland?" Jack asked his wife.

"I would be delighted, Mr McFarland," Karen replied to her husband.

"You all know what this song's going to be, don't you?" Olivia asked the rest of the people sitting at the table once Jack and Karen were far enough away not to hear her speaking.

"Oh yeah," the rest replied as the opening bars of the song played.

And baby I, I've tried to forget you  
But the light of your eyes  
Still shines like an Angel  
A spirit that won't let me go

And I, I didn't want to tell you  
Things I didn't wanna know myself  
I was afraid to show  
But you, you gave me a reason  
A reason to face the truth, oh yes you did  
To face the truth, face the truth  
Face the truth

And baby I, I've tried to forget you  
But the light of your eyes  
Still shines, shines, shines like an Angel  
A spirit that won't let me go  
Won't let me go, let go of my heart

"That's it," Mason said as the next song began to play. "They're dancing."

"Yup," Olivia said. "Nothing's gonna stop them now."

"Once again," Will said lifting his glass, "To Jack and Karen."

All the glasses clinked together.

"And," Grace began to say as all glasses were still raised, "to happily ever after."

All glasses clinked once again.

"Wanna join the party?" Elliot asked the other people at the table.

"Yeah," they all said, standing up and heading to the dance floor to happily dance the night away.

---

**ONE LAST A/N: That's all folks!! It has taken me a year and month exactly to complete this, but here I am writing this author's note for a now completed story. :) I really hope you've enjoyed reading this. I've enjoyed writing it, even if it has almost has me pulling my hair out at times. ;) Special thanks go out to Pam, who has constantly reviewed and helped me soooooooooo many times try to figure out how I should write something or if something's a good idea. Thanks hon!!! And also special thanks to Linds (if she ever gets round to reading this here, lol) who has been putting up with me typing on msn "IT'S NOT WORKING!!!!" along with that red angry face. Thanks girlies :D lol. Don't forget to review one last time! ;) heh. Thanks for reading! Mhari x**


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